Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

  • Ella Enchanted Review

    I did it! I finally read Ella Enchanted. Now I just have to see the movie like the rest of the world.

    Anyway, I enjoyed the book. I can see why it is so beloved. As I’ve said before, Levine has a way of adapting the fairytale stories that are so well-known and making them her own. I really admire her imagination when building her magic system and creating four distinct languages as well as different kingdom dialects. It really makes Kyrrhia and Ella’s story memorable.

    Ella herself is a wonderful heroine. I love that Levine shows the relationship she shared with her mother as to make it even more heartbreaking when she dies. I enjoyed her humor, her interest in languages, and defiance to those who don’t deserve her respect and try to order about. She doesn’t mince words and she’s no one’s puppet though the curse often forces her to otherwise.

    Also Levine does a wonderful, albeit at times heartbreaking, job of depicting why the curse of obedience is a curse. From giving away her mother’s necklace to almost allowing herself to be eaten, it’s an awful situation even more awful by the dizziness/pressure that compells her when she tries to resist. It’s even more heinous when combined with the justice mushrooms her father gives to her and the brief happiness spell from Lucinda. It’s just awful to not being able to make decisions on your own.
    Which makes it all the more triumpant when Ella succeeds at the end. I really love the ending. I also loved the friendship/romance between Prince Char and Ella. As Sir Stephen said, she brings him laughter and he brings her a purpose and duty.

    Additionally, the other characters like fairygodmother, Mandy, the fairy Lucinda who started this whole curse to the greedy Dame Olga and daughters, Hattie and Olive are unique and fufill their roles quite nicely to make you enjoy hate or love them.

    While I was not so interested in the end when it turns into a Cinderella story, I much preferred the wholly original adventure it had been for the first 20 chapters, it was still enjoyable and the curse provided enough suspense so I had no clue how it would end.

    So 4 stars.

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  • Jamie L. Rotante Interview

    Jamie L. Rotanate is a full-time writer and editor for Archie Comics after working up the ranks of the industry. She graciously took some time to answer my questions about her work, the enduring friendship of Betty and Veronica and upcoming news!

    1. To start off simply, what were some of your big influences when you began writing?
    I’ve been writing in some capacity since I was in about third or fourth grade. At that time it would just be shorter stories, usually inspired by whatever we had to read for school at the time. That love of writing continued to grow throughout high school and college. A big turning point for me was when I took a James Joyce class in college. It opened my eyes to how a writer could really manipulate the words on the page and make them come to life. I’ve also always had a love of reading personal stories–ever since I was a pre-teen scouring the pages of Cosmo Girl magazine, I was drawn to accounts from women’s real lives. Post-college I got even more into reading essays and non-fiction. A book of essays called Fine, Fine Music by my friend Cassie J. Sneider made me realize that I could write about myself, too. It’s not about the events that happened; it’s about the feelings, emotions, and reactions behind them. 

    2. What is your daily writing routine?

    I wish I had one! At the time of answering these (week of August 15), I’m attempting to cultivate a routine. I’ve just enrolled in a Summer Writing Sanctuary online workshop that’s meant to help find that creative spark and begin a steady routine. This is something I struggle with the most, making time for myself to write, esp. if it’s personal writing without a deadline. I hope to be better at that someday, but it’s definitely still a work in progress.

    3. What drew you to comics/graphic novels in particular?

    Growing up, I had a huge Archie comic collection (with a few Barbie comics peppered in for good measure). After middle school, I didn’t read comics as much. I finally returned to them sometime in college, diving into notable works like Watchmen and Sandman. Those helped reignite the spark for comics, and the amazing stories that could be told through the medium. I wouldn’t say I was actively searching out working on comics, but I held that love of Archie with me as a child, and when I saw an internship opportunity there, I jumped on it. I really didn’t know if writing comics would be for me, and it was about seven years into working at Archie before I gave it a try, but being able to tell a full story while allowing the breathing room for someone else to come in and bring it to visual life, adding their own nuances and ideas as well, is always such an amazing process. 

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  • J.B. Lynn Interview

    J.B. Lynn is the topselling author of the hilarious Hitwoman series as well as The Psychic Consignment Mysteries, and Cursed Chicks Club. She kindly took the time to answer my questions and reveal her thought process, character creation and exciting news on her upcoming books.
    1. Easy questions first, what are some of your favorite authors or books to read on your downtime? 

    One of my goals this year is to read a poem every day. I signed up to a site that emails me one daily so all I have to do is open my email in searching of finding one on my own. It’s been an interesting exercise, a very different way of utilizing language to convey thoughts and emotions. 

    In terms of fiction, I’m a fan of Isabella Maldonado, S.A. Cosby and Clare Pooley. (You couldn’t get much further apart than those last two, but I enjoy the work of both.)

    In terms of non-fiction, I just re-read Stephen King’s “On Writing” for the umpteenth time. On a recent road trip I listened to actor Zachary Levi’s autobiography “Radical Love”.  Up next for me is Steven Pressfield’s “Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants To Be”.

    1. What is your writing routine? 

    It varies from day to day, book to book. I either write the book blurb first, or I write out the major plot points in a loose outline and then write the book blurb. The outline reminds me of WHAT I want to cover. The blurb reminds me of WHY I wanted to write the book. Both are necessary reminders when I hit the middle of any manuscript. I tend to write in the morning and/or at night. The middle of the day is a dead zone for me in terms of creativity.

    I write and publish quite a bit so I’m almost always in some phase of editing one book while writing another.

    3. What drew you to the “cozy/comedy mystery” genre?

    Honestly, I stumbled into it by mistake. I’d always thought I’d be a thriller/suspense writer, but then I came up with the idea for my Neurotic Hitwoman series and the publisher classified it as a cozy mystery and I’ve been swimming on the fringes of that pool ever since.

    4. What inspired such an original premise as Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman? 

    A couple of things. First, I was sitting in a café with my friend Cyndi (who at the time was my critique partner) and made some snarky comment about something I saw and she said, “THAT’S the voice you should be using in your writing.”

    Then I saw a story on the news about a hitman and asked my dog, “Why aren’t there any stories about Hitwomen?)

    Combine that with the fact that one of my favorite plays of all time is “Noises Off” (which is perfectly executed humorous mayhem)and I had all the elements to spin Maggie Lee into some “whack-y” adventures!

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  • Author Highlight: Min Jin Lee

    You might be noticing the trend of notable authors having generation sprawling sagas. What can I say, I like the subgenre. As such I enjoyed Pachinko a bit more than Free Food but both are well-written tomes exploring themes of immigration, class, and family.

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  • Pretty Little Liars: Toxic Review

    All things seemed to have settle down in Rosewood but as only the Liars know, A is still out there. And even though Helper A has been put away in jail, Ali still has minions. Specifically a following of Ali Cats who like many groupies of socios and murderers believe Ali is a misunderstood hero and would love to help her in any way they can.

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  • Pretty Little Liars: Deadly Review

    Remember when I said the last book brought the verve back into the series, this one brings the blam. Ali actually lets the ax fall and leaks all the girls’ secrets as well as a forged videotape framing them for Tabitha’s murder in Jaimaca.

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  • Pretty Little Liars: Crushed Review

    Shepard brings some verve back into the series by having the Liars bring the fight to A and get more entangled in A’s web.

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  • Top 5 Disney Fairies Books

    My very very biased raking less based on story plots and more on who was my favorite fairy and hw pretty the illustrations were.

    1. Rani in the Mermaid Lagoon by Lisa Papademetriou

    First off Rani because Rani was my favorite. The girl cut off her wings to save Neverland. She is amazing, also I loved her long hair. She pretty and goodhearted and I loved her. This story explores the dificulties she has as the only wingless fairy, feeling excluded and unable to join as she used to. And it continues her fascination with mermaids, showing off the self absorbed natures and exploring another part of Neverland.

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  • Summer Nonfiction

    Popular by Maya Van Wagenen

    I read this memoir a long time ago for a project in middle school so it was nice to revisit it again. This memoir details Maya’s journey to finding popularity by utilizing a How to be Popular Guide from the 50s by then teen model Betty Cornell (who writes the forward to this book!).

    What’s interesting is that even though the popularity guide was from a whole different generation, it is quite applicable today with easy to do tips like perfecting posture, having confidence and going out of your comfort zone to talk to people.

    And as thousands of YA books and tv shows have reminded us, though it’s always nice to hear again, popularity is in the eye of the beholder. Even the people who are popular think themselves as losers or find others to be intimidating as Maya learned when she talked to the goths, the artsy geeks, the gangbangers and the jocks. By breaching this invisible but undeniable clique boundaries, Maya was able to gain popularity in a way she never imagined.

    Relatable and introspective, Maya brings readers into her life and personal moments as she moves forward with her experiment and shares some lifelong messages.

    Binge by Tyler Oakley

    I admit I borrowed this on whim because I liked the candy cover but it is quite fun. Though I never seen his youtube videos, it didn’t stop me from enjoying this entertaining memoir. Oakley seems to be very heartfelt and genuine as he discusses big issues like abuse and family estrangement as he came out when he was a teenager to experiencing #CancelTylerOakley when he spoke out about a 1D member’s iffy support to an anti LGBTer.

    But it’s not all serious as he also discusses entertaining ancetedotes like 10 things he’d do if he were Beyonce for a day to Tinder fails to getting high at a teen dance when he was a camp counselor. Very fun light read.

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  • Lisi Harrison Interview

    Lisi Harrison is the NYT Bestseller author of The Clique, Alphas, Girl Stuff among many other series. She kindly accepted my request for an interview and gives insight to her making of The Clique series, the ending to The Pretenders, friendship, co-writing and lots more.

    1. To start off simple, when did you first begin writing? What were some of your big inspirations?

    I always wanted to write, I think I always had those voices in my head my whole life. When I first read Harriet the Spy when I was younger, I loved the idea of observing people. And that lit me up. I loved the idea of sort of watching people in their natural habitat, observing them, human behavior was fascinating. I wanted to write, I decided I wanted to be a spy just like Harriet.

    2. Did your work as a Senior Director of Programming at MTV influence or help you as you transferred to writing?

    We had five half hour programming blocks and back then, there were five minute chunks of commercial three times in a half an hour episode. We had to hold people’s attention so they didn’t change the channel. I got very used to writing cliffhangers, very aware that anybody can put the book down at any time or change the channel at any time. I was very conscience that I had to make whatever I had to say entertaining as possible so that definately influenced my writing.

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