Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

The Royal We

Author: Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

Publication Date: April 7, 2015

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance

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Synopsis:

"I might be Cinderella today, but I dread who they'll think I am tomorrow. I guess it depends on what I do next."

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.

Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.

Which is how she gets into trouble.

Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book a lot more than I initially thought I would.  Some have toted it as a glorified fan-fiction of Kate and Will, but I honestly don't care.  There were a lot of similarities between Bex and Nick and Prince William and Duchess Catherine's stories - that's for sure.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book regardless.

Rebecca Porter, or Bex, was just a regular American college student on a study abroad term to Oxford.  She only wanted to go and enjoy the art, to take in the architecture and have fun in the UK.  She wasn't looking for romance, and she certainly wasn't aiming to find love with the second in line to the throne.

I love that we get to follow their eight-year romance to the alter.  We get to see the highs and the lows and friends come and go.  Sometimes, I found myself stopping and remembering how their romance started and drawing lines on how the young 20 year olds with a brand new love story became 26 or 27 with all of these new responsibilities and stresses.  In that way, I was glad we got to see the whole span, which we very rarely get in books.

Neither of the main characters is anywhere near perfect (nor the side characters) and I think that is what I loved the most about this book.  We get to see them both do very well and mess up spectacularly throughout their relationship.  This book broke my heart in more than one spot and had me almost yelling at both or either Bex and Nick on more than one occasion.

The ending did leave me wanting a little more.  I felt it ended a little abrupt and would have liked to see a nice epilogue from two years later, even if it was just a quick snapshot of their life.  But that certainly did not dissuade me from rating this 5 stars/owls.

So, whether you feel this is some sort of fan-fiction on Wills and Kate or not, this book was an excellent read for me.  I hated when I had to put the book down for something.  If you are fascinated by all things royal or you just love a good love story I would definitely recommend this one.

Review: Glitches by Marissa Meyer

Glitches

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publication Date: December 5th, 2011

Publisher: Tor

Genre: YA/Short-Story/Steampunk/Dystopia

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Synopsis:

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In “Glitches,” a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch...

My Thoughts:  I just recently read and reviewed Cinder, you can find the review here. I really enjoyed that book, so when I found this short little prequel I knew I had to read it.

This little short story is a great little addition to the Cinder story. In it we get peek at when Cinder is first introduced to her new family, we get to see her experience what it's like to be a cyborg, to try to deal with things that were easy before, and also to deal with the discrimination that comes along with being Cyborg.  We get to see the friendship between Cinder and Peony blossom, as well as the entrance of Cinder's android friend Iko.

If you haven't you are safe to read this story without it giving to much away on the main story, it will give you a little tiny sampling of what is to come. If you have read Cinder, this is a fun read as you get to see the origin of many happenings from the main story.

This was a fun, interesting, short and easy read. If you are a fan of Cinder, or are even interested in reading Cinder, then I recommend this to you.

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publication Date: January 3rd, 2012

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Genre: YA/Dystopia/Steampunk/Re-Tellings

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Synopsis:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Thoughts: When I was down to the last 20 or so pages of this book, I was thinking to myself, no no no no no, it can't be over yet! I didn't want it to end, I seriously flipped through all the extra pages at the end looking for more.

This book is such an amazing, incredibly unique, wonderfully creative, twist of the classic story of Cinderella. I would go so far as to say, that I like this version much much more.  Re-creating classic stories is not something new, but this book stands alone and above them all in that category. I absolutely loved the little details she pulled from the original story and placed them in her own, but adding her own twist to them, it was spectacular.

Cinder is a cyborg who is stuck in the custody of her step-mother when her adopted father passes away, and of course her two step-sisters. But, not both of them are evil! One of her step-sisters, Peony, is her friend, her only real friend besides her android companion. When Peony contracts the plague, Cinder blames herself, and so does her step-mother. Her step-mother volunteers her to be a test subject for the plague antidote and Cinder accepts her impending death, only to discover shocking news upon arrival at the testing facility. The events following this discovery throw her life into a giant swirl of confusion. But Cinder is strong, I felt my heart break for her over and over, and somehow she continued to carry on and attempt discover the life she had before becoming cyborg, which she has absolutely no memory of.

Of course, there is the prince, after a chance meeting at the market where Cinder sells her mechanical skills, Cinder finds herself falling for the Prince, and just maybe, he might have feelings for her to. But she is a cyborg, and she tries desperately to keep this a secret from the Prince, for fear he would never speak to her again, or be disgusted by her. I really enjoyed the love dynamic in this story, because it felt real, and strong, without it being splattered all over page how crazy they were over each other. Their interactions were simple, subtle, and yet - you knew and could sense the longing and attraction between them. It was a refreshing break from the almost obsessive, overwhelming love stories that are in a lot of books lately.

I was very much looking forward to reading this book, I would see it in the store and pick it up and hold it every time I went before I finally bought it and took it home with me. Aside from the amazing story within, the book itself is also beautiful. I love the cover, the font, the chapter headings, the little excerpts from the Cinderella story at the beginning of each book. The entire design of the book is just awesome, it adds to the greatness of the story, making the book just 100% awesome! Now, I am so glad that it is sitting on my shelf,  this is definitely one of those books that you are so glad you own. I want to share it with others, I look forward to placing this version of Cinderella in my daughter's hands in the future.

This book left me begging for more, it was riveting and captivating and such a refreshingly unique story, it was overall incredible. I loved this story, and I absolutely recommend that you read it! I can't wait to read the future works coming in the Lunar Chronicles!

Are Audiobooks more your thing? Well Cinder is available in audio format! Here is a preview of Chapter One for you to listen to now! 

Review: A Bite's Tale by Veronica Blade

A Bite's Tale

Author: Veronica Blade

Publication Date: January 4th, 2102

Genre: Paranormal / Fairy Tale Retelling

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Synopsis:

A Cinderella who spends her nights as a wolf. A prince with a taste for blood. Seventeen year old Cydney struggles against her werewolf nature, trying to keep everyone around her safe. No way will she risk exposing the beast at the prince’s ball, no matter how her two cousins try to persuade her. Even as she attempts to get on with her life, Cydney can’t forget the boy she loved three summers ago — or what she did to him after losing control. Turned into a vampire to save his life, the prince refuses to live up to his royal duties. He just wants to find the girl he loved and lost...the werewolf girl who bit him. But his father, the king, commands him to attend a ball where he must choose a wife. Can he find his Cinderella before he's forced to marry another? He doesn’t even have her real name, much less a glass slipper.