The Surface Breaks: a reimagining of The Little Mermaid by Louise O'Neill

This book was amazing. This feminist take on The Little Mermaid was searingly poignant and really calls attention to the more problematic themes in The Little Mermaid. This is the story of Gaia, a mermaid who is forced to be what her father deems "perfect" and mold herself into what mermen want. She is the youngest of seven sisters all equally oppressed. Their father forces them to compete for his affections based on how pretty they are and how pleasing he finds them, he even goes as far and to line them up based on who he thinks is the prettiest that day, and Gaia always wins. By pitting the sisters (and all females) against one another allows this oppression to persist. But not only does Gaia have to serve the whims of her father but that of her betrothed. His name is Zane and he is hella old. Like in his sixties, the same age as her father.

With no mother around Gaia is forced to accept her father's ideas of what it means to be a woman in the patriarchal society. When Gaia becomes of age she is allowed to go to the surface, where she finds a yacht full of the rich and beautiful young people. She sees this one boy, Oliver, and is immediately enchanted with him. When a storm rolls up and the yacht is wrecked, Gaia saves Oliver from drowning, sacrificing his girlfriend to the Rusalkas (sirens) who drown men to exact their vengeance because they died at the hands of men and drowned.

 After she saves Oliver she becomes obsessed with the idea that she is in love with him. Meanwhile, she's fast approaching her sixteenth birthday and Zane is starting to get handsy. (ew eW EW!)

He blackmails her with her secret trips to the surface to get some "alone time" with her. Anyone else see how rapey that is?! When she's finally had enough she goes to the Sea Witch Cato and begs her to turn her human. Cato hesitates asking Gaia if she is sure Oliver loves her. Gaia insists all the while noticing some strange things about Cato, she's puzzling together something but can't believe it's true because her father told her differently. Cato agrees and makes a potion to turn Gaia human, she warns her that it will feel like stepping on knives every time she steps but Gaia doesn't care. She can only think of being with Oliver. Finally, Cato tells Gaia that there is a price to be paid for this kind of magic. Her voice. Cato tells her she must cut out her tongue. This gives Gaia pause but she remembers that "men don't like it when women talk" so she agrees. She gives away her voice and goes to the surface where she drinks the potion and becomes human. She has 1 month to make Olive love her or she will die. At first, everything is fine. Gaia tries to become everything Oliver wants. She even accepts his new name for her Grace. While Gaia is trying to win his heart every night her feet bleed and her skin peels off layer by layer. Eventually, Gaia realizes what she has done to herself all in the name of "love".

This book was amazing. You go on this journey with Gaia as she realizes her worth is more than what value men place on her. I cannot reccoment this book enough!

Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Shadowsong is the highly anticipated sequel to Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones. It continues the tale of Liesl who now free of the Underground, but not free of her feelings for the Goblin King, tries to go back to her life before she was the Goblin Queen. Liesl finds she doesn't fit into the place she previously held due to the changes she underwent while Underground. This book shows the struggle Liesl faces trying to carve out a place for herself in the world, along with some fun new challenges.

When Liesl was released from the Underground she denied the Old Laws a sacrifice, and now the Wild Hunt is searching for her, corrupting the Goblin King and the Underground and finding all the others who are "elf-touched" (people who have received gifts from the Underground like Liesl and Josef). With this new "plague" running rampant Liesl is invited to Vienna by a mysterious benefactor. Excited to join her brother on a new adventure Liesl takes the opportunity and brings her sister Käthe along.

But everything is not what it seems. Liesl finds herself more discontented as time goes on, and Josef has lost touch with reality. Can Liesl find a way to save everyone from the new threats they face? Can she trust her mysterious benefactor? Or is Liesl in way over her head?

This book was amazing! Liesl's struggle after leaving the Underground is palpable, and her slow descent into madness was incredibly well written. I was incredibly sorry to see this book (and series) end. Finding out the past of the Goblin King was also very interesting. It was a look into what made him the man he was in the first book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, fairy tales, or Labyrinth!

I gave this book four owls instead of five because while I liked it, some of the plot felt rushed at the end. Which was fine, but after the slow buildup for more than 70% of the book I felt that the resolution and ending should have been more than like 4 pages. I also with the Faithful had played a bigger role in the book. So this book was great but the first book Wintersong was better. However I look forward to more books by S. Jae-Jones. She's an amazing author and any future books by here seem promising.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

THIS BOOK. THIS FREAKING BOOK! It has taken at least twenty years off my life in the last 100 pages alone! It lures you in with Feyre being a total bamf in the beginning and then crushes your very soul and cause much ugly crying! So basically this book was amazing.

Like I said above, the book starts out with Feyre back at the Spring Court, and she's there to fuck stuff up and drink tea, and she just finished her tea... So Feyre is spying on the Spring Court who has allied with Pythian's sworn enemy Hybern. The king is like really super evil™, and has sent some emissaries to the Spring Court to figure out the best way to invade the human lands so the fae can enslave them once again. Feyre must pretend to be the swooning damsel in distress she was before Under The Mountain, all the while tying to find away to save the human world from their own Queens' folly of allying with Hybern.

This book was so good, my second favorite in the series. I loved the first book, but the slow burn romance in the second one was the best thing ever so it's the best in the series. This book also redeems Tamlin a bit, he's still a jerk, but Feyre is able to forgive him in the end, after she completely crushes him in the beginning. It also shows just why Rhys and Feyre are soulmates. I recently re-read the whole series because of this book's release, and I looked at my old review of the first book. I said how I would be upset if Feyre ended up with Rhys because it took true love to break the curse on Tamlin, because it was Feyre's love of Tamlin and his people that helped her to face the horrors and trials Under The Mountain, and while that is true, it doesn't mean that that love was forever. Feyre and Tamlin could not reconcile who they each had become after the events of the first book, their needs had changed after that and it left scars. While I do think their feelings we genuine in the first book, I also recognize that with Rhys everything he does is to make sure Feyre has a choice and plays and active role in her own life. Which is so important after she had that taken from her first by Amaranth, and then by Tamlin.

This book was so very good, and I'm sad it's over because I want more. I am excited since Sarah J. Maas is writing more for this series, thought not about the same characters apparently. Which makes me sad, but I realize that Rhys and Feyre's story is over, but still I love them so much I want to know so much more about their lives. Maybe the next books will focus on Feyre's sisters? One can only hope.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

So I recently re-read this book because of the release of the third in the series. This one is still my favorite of the series. While the first book was good and introduced us to the world of Pythian, this book made everything more real. The stakes are higher with the threat of Hybern and Feyre having been made into a fae in the last book. What makes this book so good is that we get to know Rhysand so much better than we did in the first book.

This book starts out a few months after Under The Mountain and Feyre, understandably, has been having nightmares and trouble dealing with what she had to do to save Tamlin, who has also changed and not for the better. Tamlin has become more controlling and protective of Feyre and she feels smothered by it. But because she "loves" Tamlin she feels she must accept her new role no matter how much it chafes. She hasn't heard from or seen Rhysand since their last encounter after the events of Under The Mountain, but she still worries about the deal she struck with him to save her life. Everything comes to a head at the wedding of Tamlin and Feyre. Where in the first book such an event might have been looked upon more favorably by the reader, this time you feel desperate for Feyre to escape it as she starts to panic and realizes she cannot marry him. She begs for someone, anyone, to save her and Rhys appears to do so still in the villainous disguise we became accustomed to in the last book. Rhys takes Feyre to the Night Court and Feyre starts to realize how poisonous Tamlin's love for her is, all the while finding herself and the strength within herself to carry on thanks to her new friendships with Rhys and his companions.

I won't give away anymore because this book is such a fun read! I absolutly love Rhys and this book does a good job of explaining how complex his character is and his motivations that we only got a glimpse of in the first book. I adore the allusions to different fairy tales and myths, especially the Persephone and Hades one going on in the book. I adore this series and I' eager to see what Sarah J. Maas does in the books after A Court of Wings and Ruin since she said she was going to focus on other characters besides the ones in the first three novels.

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Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

I got this book in my monthly OwlCrate box and I fell absolutely in love with this story!

Daughter of the Pirate King tells the story of Alosa who has been sent on a secret mission to infiltrate an enemy pirate ship to retrieve part of a map to the ultimate treasure stash. But things go awry when she meets the very handsome and perceptive first mate Riden, whom she shares a mutual attraction with.

But Alosa has more to contend with than just secrets and spies during her mission, she has to deal with her very nature because Alosa is more than just the daughter of the pirate king, she's the daughter of a siren as well and with that comes powers that sometimes Alosa cannot fully control, but she has to use them regardless as time is running out to find the map.

I absolutely loved the banter between Alosa and Riden, and the fact that he doesn't like her in her siren seductress form. I read this whole book in a day and I cannot wait until the sequel comes out and I can find out more about these characters and this world.

Firebrand by Kristen Britain

I am incredibly sad that this book has ended. It was such a good read. From start to finish Firebrand has been a truly wonderful addition to the Green Rider Series.

The book starts out with Karigan back from her jaunt in the future struggling to reconcile her life after the events in Mirror Sight. King Zachary is worried about Karigan and his pregnant queen, especially after an elemental being a la Snow Miser from A Year Without A Santa Claus. The Snow Miser (called Slee but I prefer Snow Miser) attacks the castle freezing people and tries to kidnap Estora because it is obsessed with her beauty and it desires her offspring. Eventually it kidnaps Zachary and impersonates him after they send Karigan, Estral, and Enver the half Eletian to find the Moose Centaurs (P'ehdrose). [half (hide spoiler)]

This book was a wild ride start to finish. I was torn though when Zachary and Karigan has some romantic moments, while I ship them with all my fangirl heart, I also feel for Estora who has developed feelings for her husband and father of her children.Though I'm 100% convinced that one of those babies is actually Karigan and Cade's from the future for reasons not yet revealed. I have so many new theories about how this series is going to continue, and I am really despondent over the fact it will be a long while until book seven. Now I have to wait until Caitlin and Kiera read their copies so I can fangirl with them.

Disney's 101 Dalmatians