Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

The Bloody Chamber (and Other Stories)

You know how darker, sexier retellings of fairytales are all the rage? Well you have Angela Carter to thank for that subgenre in fairytale retellings with her collection of short stories that subvert and invert these popular tales to pay homage to their darker origins while making it slyly progressive. Putting the females in peril…

rachelbeerwoman

December 5, 2023

Book/Author Highlight

#angelacarter, #fairytale, #inthecompanyofwolves, #penguinrandomhouse, #pussinboots, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #thebloodychamber, #thebloodychamberandotherstories, #thecourtshipofmrlyon, #theerlking, #theladyofthehouseoflove, #thesnowchild, #thetiger’sbride, #thewerewolf, #wolfalice
Fullmetal Alchemist Vol 11-17

Even though the library didn’t have vol 9 or 10, I had to know what happened next and went straight for 11. Thankfully, it was easy to sum up what had happened in between though I was shocked. Armstrong has a sister!! Prince Ling’s body was taking over by Greed! May has joined up with…

rachelbeerwoman

December 3, 2023

Book/Author Highlight

#fullmetalalchemist, #fullmetaledition, #hiromuarakawa, #manga, #rachelreads&reviews, #vizmedia
Thoughts on Chain of Thorns

Well, I’m all caught up on The Shadowhunter Chronicles as I finished Chain of Thorns this week. So all that’s left is the final trilogy and the last book in The Eldest Curses trilogy. Woo-hoo. I must admit I procrastinated for almost the entire year before getting to CoT because the prospect of 800 pages…

rachelbeerwoman

December 2, 2023

Book/Author Highlight

#cassandraclare, #chainofthorns, #fantasy, #rachelreads&reviews, #simon&schuster, #thelasthours, #YA
Hiddensea: The Once and Future Nutcracker Review

Maguire takes readers to a deep dark wood where Dirk the foundling dies and comes back to life. It’s a traumatic incident and the foundling boy, who was never quite whole in the first place, ventures out into the world. Alone, and lost, apart from others and haunted by the past he blocked out, Dirk…

rachelbeerwoman

December 1, 2023

Reviews

#gregorymaguire, #hiddensea, #morrowpaperbacks, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #thenutcracker, #theonceandfuturenutcracker, #williammorrowpaperbacks
November Books

Hotel of Secrets by Diane Biller It is New Years Eve in Vienna and Maria Wallner is determined to rebbuild the Wallner Hotel, her family legacy even though her mother neglected it throughout the economic downturn. The hotel is her life and provides a distraction from romance which all of Vienna is waiting for her…

rachelbeerwoman

December 1, 2023

Book Suggestions

#anitakunz, #ashleyherringblake, #avonromance, #berkleyromance, #blackstonepublishing, #chrisbohjalian, #chriscolfer, #coraline, #crystalsmithpaul, #dianebiller, #didyouhearaboutkittykarr, #historicalfiction, #iriskellydoesn’tdate, #janeausten, #justahat, #kilalaprincess, #manga, #memoir, #middlegrade, #midwives, #neilgainman, #nikkipayne, #nonfiction, #pantheonbooks, #prideandprotest, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #rikatanaka, #robinbenway, #skubiar, #strangerthanfanfiction, #theextraordinarysecretsofaprilmayandjune, #thelastblackunicorn, #tiffanyhaddish, #toyokopop, #womenshistory, #YA, hotelofsecrets
Mirror, Mirror Review

Maguire sets his tale of vanity and murder in 16th century Italy where the wicked queen is played by a historical domain character, Lucrenzia Borgia, sister to Ceseare Borgia who was the inspiration for Machavelli’s The Prince. Lucrenzia is vain but her jealousy of Bianca, the girl as white as snow stems from her brother’s…

rachelbeerwoman

November 29, 2023

Reviews

#fairytale, #gregorymaguire, #mirrormirror, #morrowpaperbacks, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #retlelling, #snowwhiteandthesevendwarfs, #williammorrow
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister Review

Maguire takes the tale of Cinderella to Holland during the height of the Tulip madness. Beauty is the theme of the day, the traditional aesthetic beauty of femininity, the beauty immortal captured on canvas, the beauty in nature, and of course, the inner beauty in charity.

rachelbeerwoman

November 29, 2023

Reviews

#cinderella, #confessionsofanuglystepsister, #gregorymaguire, #morrowpaperbacks, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling
After Alice Review

Maguire is best known for his work retelling the stories of Oz’ famous characters (and inspiring the subsequent Broadway play) but as the library didn’t have Wicked, I decided to take a look at Maguire’s other fairytale works. After Alice is just as implied where a minor character from the original novel, Ada, falls down…

rachelbeerwoman

November 27, 2023

Reviews

#afteralice, #aliceinwonderland, #gregorymaguire, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #williammorrow
Fullmetal Alchemist Vol 1-8

Alright, I started a new manga. One of the most popular ones apparently so this is a more spoilery what I thought about the first half of the series rather than a full-on review. But I guess it doesn’t matter since the spoilers won’t make sense to someone who hasn’t read them. Let’s get to…

rachelbeerwoman

November 27, 2023

Book Suggestions

#fullmetalalchemist, #fullmetaledition, #hiromuarakawa, #manga, #rachelreads&reviews
Warriors: Vision of Shadows

I know, I know, it’s been awhile but someone keeps taking them out so I couldn’t read them in order. I guess it goes to show Hunter and the Warrior cats’ enduring popularity. Go them! Hunter’s next set of books pave new ground after the world-changing events of Omen of the Stars with Firestar’s death…

rachelbeerwoman

November 23, 2023

Book Suggestions, Book/Author Highlight

##thunderandshadow, #animalbooks, #darkestnight, #erinhunter, #harpercollins, #rachelreads&reviews, #riveroffire, #shatteredsky, #theapprentice’squest, #theraginingstorm, #visionofshadows, #warriors