Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

  • The Elite

    35 girls entered the palace, six are left, and now there are specific “events” that are supposed to weed out the contenders.

    America thinks she’s in love with Maxon but after the inclusion of Aspen back in her sphere, and the challenges of being a potential princess start to mount, she finds herself doubtful fo where she belongs.

    And that’s not just getting into the rebellious Southerners trying to kill them all.

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  • Top 5 Veronica’s Passport

    I guess I could just say Veronica issues but my favorites are the ones of her crime solving travel adventures (much like Scooby Doo) so I put Veronica’s Passport even though it’s not the official name. I also must put a disclaimer that I haven’t read all of Veronica’s travel adventures but I’m still holding out for Archie Comics to put out an actual omnibus or special anniversary digest.

    1. Veronica in Paris: The first issue gets first place and it honestly deserves it. Not only is it in the City of Lights but has everything you could ask for in a Veronica advenure-fashion montages, sexy French men, and a confrontationn between a renowned jewel thief and Interpol ontop of the Eiffle Tower. It hypes up everything to come.
    2. Veronica in Texas: I think I mentioned this story before, but it is part of one of my favorite digests and features an amnesiac Veronica belieivng she’s a rodeo star. It has the return of Lady Smitty, rodeo clown shenanigans and the Lodges reluctantly relying on a phony psychic. Just like everything else, the adventure is bigger in Texas.
    3. Veronica in Switzerland: It’s one of her more underrated adventures I believe but I enjoy it because I felt like I learned a lot about Switzerland while also feeling the coziness of a winter romance with the avalanches and such.
    4. Veronica in the Bahamas: The Bahamas are practically Veronica’s second home but her deep sea diving trip springs up a shipwrecked treasure, which other tomb robbers want to get their hands on first. Luckily, Veronica has new friends to help her when she’s stuck between a shark and a rock place.
    5. Veronica in Rome: A comedy of errors has Veronica ending up in a school for deliquents in Rome when her father meant to send her to a school for business entrepeneurs. Luckily, Veronica learns to take the lemons to make lemon biscotti and ends up making several important business decisions with the help of a sweet Roman hottie.
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  • The Books of Bayern: Forest Born Review

    The last novel of The Books of Bayern focuses on Razo’s little sister, Rin, in a novel that brings things full circle with plenty of magic, nature and more danger. In fact, I’m tempted to put a “Water, Trees, Fire, Wind, the four languages lived in harmony until the Kingdom of Kel attacked” quote at the beginning.

    For this is the adventure, Rinn finds herself on and in no time soon because she cannot bear to return to the Forest.

    Rinn has always loved her Forest home with numerous brothers, and over twenty nephews and nieces running underfoot. As the youngest, Rinn has a special place in the flock and it is well-known to be her mother’s special favorite, her little helper, her shadow.

    But even among so many, Rinn finds peace and relief in the trees. Not sure of the language she is pulling from them, all she knows is that they give her relief. But they have suddenly stopped speaking to her. All she can feel is naseua, and loathing, an unescapable knowledge that she is a bad girl, that no one will love her. She stays quiet, trying to lock her badness within herself and mimic others, being a mirror so to be invisible. Yet she hopes this journey will change her like Razo has changed. Maybe the queen who supposedly speaks to the wind can help. Maybe Rin can become good.

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  • The Books of Bayern: River Secrets Review

    Hale is back with the lovable jokester, Razo. The sheep herder is now one of Bayern’s Own. Or Bayern’s worst which is what other soldiers say behind his back. Yes, Razo knows he isn’t the best fighter or spear thrower nor can he speak the fire language and wind language of his friends. But he is of the opinion, why should he insert himself into battles when others are much more competent than he.

    Can’t deny it still stings to be considered a runt who his friends keep around for jokes and entertainment.

    So he is shocked when Captain Talon chooses him as one of the entorage to escort Bayern’s ambassador to Tira and stay in the kingdom’s Palace of Thousands to assure war won’t return.

    But the Palace of Thousands should be called Palace of a Thousand Secrets. A rebel group is trying to assassinate Bayern’s ambassador, and someone is burning bodies. Razo fears Enna may be burning in her sleep and if she isn’t, someone is killing innocents just to frame Bayern. Either group can tip the balance towards war, and Razo is the unlikely hero set to stop it.

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  • The Books of Bayern: Enna Burning Review

    It’s been two years since Enna’s best friend, Isi aka Ani stopped the potential war between Bayern and Kilandree. Enna has returned home to take over the house since her mother’s death with her brother. But Enna is no longer content in the Forest as she used to be. But she isn’t needed in the palace either as Isi becomes consumed with her duties as queen.

    But when her brother, Leifer becomes consumed with the fire language he finds in a book of vellum, Enna fears Leifer will be destroyed. But finding a way to erase the knowledge Leifer already knows has to come second to a new war brewing between Bayern and the southern kingdom of Tira.

    The knowledge of fire language suddenly seems to be the one weapon in their arsenal that may turn the tide of war, and Enna is certain that she can control it far better than her brother. All she knows is that she has to do something for her kingdom.

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  • The Books of Bayern: The Goose Girl Review

    Hale’s haunting retelling of The Goose Girl starts with a princess, a princess born with a word at her tongue. Once she awakes three days later, she doesn’t know the name but she grows entangled with the speech of animals. It’s an ancient magic, and a distrusted one compared to people-speak.

    Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee or Ani for short, doesn’t feel suited for the intricacies of people-speak and ruling as she’s been trained to do. Even though she’s crown princess, the subtleties leave her nervous and tongue-tied. She feels like a failure as a crown princess and uncertain of her future. It’s a bleak one as her distant, affectionless mother prevents Ani from interacting with animals that would encourage her attempts at animal-speak.

    But her future is out of her hands when her mother abruptly decides to marry her off and have her young brother rule Kildenree instead. Ani will be queen of Bayern instead, the arranged bride for a stranger prince.

    Just as with the original tale, Ani’s lady-in-waiting, Selia, contrives a coup among the soldiers so she may take Ani’s place as princess and Ani barely escapes with her life. Forced to hide in the city as a mere goose girl, Ani must learn to harness her magic and her strength to reclaim her title and her name.

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  • The Selection Review

    America Singer is a Five, the caste of artists and musicians. They may provide entertainment and culture but it is a seasonal rank that makes her family’s finances a balancing act.

    That’s why her mother is thrilled about Prince Jaxon’s upcoming Selection. If America is chosen from the lottery, she and 34 other girls may get a chance to marry the prince of Illea. At least, the family gets a paycheck for each week America is in the palace and America, herself, is brought up to a Three.

    But America doesn’t want to be selected. Not only does she doubt she’d get chosen but she’s already secretly in love with Aspen, a family friend and a Six. Marrying down may not be ideal but she believes they can find a way.

    But, of course, we wouldn’t have a book if America didn’t get selected so she is sent to the capital and finds that Jaxon is nothing like she expected.

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  • Ranking Fairytale Reform School

    In the village of Enchantsia, Gilly is often on the run from the Dwarf Police Squad for petty theft but what else can she do? Since the Fairy Godmother (yes, that one of Cinderella fame) stole her father’s patent for glass slippers, their family has a shoestring budget. She only steals from the rich but the Dwarf Police Squad don’t see it that way.

    Any kid who has three warnings is sent to Fairytale Reform School to curb them of their potential criminally villainous path. Only in a school founded by the formerly Wicked Stepmother, Flora, the Evil Queen, the Big Bad Wolf and others, Gilly suspects that there is less focus on redemption than secretly building an evil army.

    With her ragtag group of misfits, Gilly Cobbler finds out she can be so much more than a thief, but she might actually be the unnlikely hero the kingdom needs. Sometimes you need a villain to fight a fight.

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  • Ogre Enchanted Review

    All Evie wants is to be a healer. In fact, she’s running quite a fruitful apothocary for her village in Jenn with her best friend, Wormy as her first patient and bookkeeper.

    But much to Evie’s distress, Wormy likes her far more than a friend. Even though they’re way too young in Evie’s opinion but Wormy proposes to her, and when she turns him down, the meddlesome fairy, Lucinda turns her into an ogre!

    Evie’s even more distressed than the original marriage proposal as this transformation prevents her from living with her family or continuing her work as everyone wants to kill her and her new ogre instincts make everyone so edible.

    And the only way to reverse the curse before it becomes permenant is to find someone else to propose to her and accept it.

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  • A Tale of Two Castles Review

    This was unlike any other fairytale Levine has created!

    Very loosely inspired by Puss in Boots (and by inspired, it has cats, and that’s where the similarities end), Levine creates a distinct new kingdom where 12-year old Elodie sets off to apprentice herself as a mansioner. That’s the word for actor over there.

    But apprenticenships don’t come for free at Two Castles so Elodie settles for work as an assistant to deducer, inducer, the all-seeing dragon masteress, Meenora. Her first mission is to protect Count Jounty Um.

    Now, Jounty Um is a kind, generous man but he’s an ogre and everyone in town despises him for that fact. With the announcement that he’s to be engaged to Princess Renn and will someday become king, there’s threats everywhere especially as cats are known to force ogres to turn into mice to be eaten.

    There are too many suspects to count and Elodie has no idea who to trust (or how to serve wine) including the Count and her Masteress.

    While Elodie’s questioning of everyone can get a bit annoying at times, you can understand since she’s only been in town for three days and now she’s in the middle of a potential murder plot among royalty and magical creatures. Plus it strengthens her own journey of deducing and using common sense, and figuring out what she wants to do with her mansioning skills if she cannot do it the traditional apprenticenship way.

    Plus the characters are all so lively and memorable from flighty Princess Ren to her greedy father, sweet Jounty Um, know-it-all Meenora and the charming cat trainer, Master Thiel. They all have a part to play or red herring to present in this twisty mystery that will leave you guessing and scratching your head.

    As usual, the magic system is all of its own with its rules and expectations that everyone is supposed to know. Same with the town as Elodie stumbles about, trying not to look like a Laht bumpkin who gets robbed by cats in her first minute onshore.

    A really fun read! 4 stars

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