Cruel Beauty

I have always been a sucker for fairytales, especially "Beauty and the Beast." There are so many retellings, many written for teens, and I have always found myself drawn to the story. It's well-known, but in the hands of a good writer, it becomes new each time it is retold. I settled in recently with Cruel Beauty, by Rosamund Hodge and was delighted to find that she had done something brilliant --she combined fairytale and mythology. It works incredibly well, and what the reader gets is a fascinating novel of love, duty, and hard choices.

Nyx Triskelion has been raised to wed the Gentle Lord, the master of the demons and a cruel demon himself who enslaved the land of Arcadia in a time known as the Sundering. Nyx's life has never been her own. From childhood she has been taught her duty--to marry the demon king and then to kill him in order to free Arcadia from his rule and to avenge her mother's death. Long ago her father foolishly made a bargain with the Gentle Lord and was tricked like all the other fools who had asked for their heart's desire. Though he received his wish--that his barren wife would have children--he forgot to stipulate that his wife also survive the births.  For his folly, Nyx's father would lose both his wife (to death) and one of his twin daughters (to marriage.)  But her father believes he can trick the Gentle Lord by training Nyx to perform magic rites on the four "hearts" of her  husband's castle. Unfortunately for Nyx, after those rites are completed, the castle will fall in on itself, killing the Gentle Lord, but also killing Nyx. No matter, says Nyx's father, freeing Arcadia and avenging her mother's death, are clearly more important than Nyx's life or happiness.

Nyx has always been the hope of her people. She is also their sacrifice. And living with this weight has made Nyx bitter and hateful. When she is finally wed to the Gentle Lord, she is terrified, but as the days pass in his castle, as Nyx searches for the "hearts" and tries to destroy her demon husband, she begins to see that all is not as it seems. No one, not even the Gentle Lord himself, understands the truth of his power, and as Nyx grows closer to her husband, she begins to doubt her role as his assassin.

A great read for those who like fairytales, mythology, and well-written fantasy. I look forward to more of this author's work.

12 Days of Teen Lit: 9 Girls in Dresses!

What is it with girls in fancy dresses on teen book covers?  It seems like there are more every day!

In celebration of 12 Days of Teen Lit, we give you

9 Girls in Dresses!

Entwined.  Confined to their dreary castle while mourning their mother's death, Princess Azalea and her eleven sisters join The Keeper, who is trapped in a magic passageway, in a nightly dance that soon becomes nightmarish.

Fury. When high school junior Emily hooks up with her best friend's boyfriend and football quarterback Chase's life spirals out of control, three mysterious Furies--paranormal creatures that often assume the form of beautiful women--come to town to make sure that Emily and Chase get what they deserve.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar.  Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend demanding a trade ; the dangerous device Jasper stole from him for the life of the girl Jasper loves. One false move from Jasper and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens. And tightens. From the rough streets of lower Manhattan to elegant Fifth Avenue, the motley crew of teens with supernatural abilities is on Jasper's elusive trail. And they're about to discover how far they'll go for friendship.

Grave Mercy. In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.

The Luxe.  In Manhattan in 1899, five teens of different social classes lead dangerously scandalous lives, despite the strict rules of society and the best-laid plans of parents and others.

Paranormalacy.  When a dark prophecy begins to come true, sixteen-year-old Evie of the International Paranormal Containment Agency must not only try to stop it, she must also uncover its connection to herself and the alluring shapeshifter, Lend.

Princess of the Midnight Ball.  A retelling of the tale of twelve princesses who wear out their shoes dancing every night, and of Galen, a former soldier now working in the king's gardens, who follows them in hopes of breaking the curse.

The Selection.  Sixteen-year-old America Singer is living in the caste-divided nation of Illéa, which formed after the war that destroyed the United States. America is chosen to compete in the Selection--a contest to see which girl can win the heart of Illéa's prince--but all she really wants is a chance for a future with her secret love, Aspen, who is a caste below her.

Vixen.  In 1923 Chicago, seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody rebels against her upcoming society wedding by visiting a speakeasy, while her Pennsylvania cousin, Clara, hides similar tastes and her best friend, Lorraine, makes plans of her own.

When Elizabeth takes a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository she assumes it's just a normal library. She couldn't be more wrong. The Repository doesn't lend books, but objects, and some of those objects are decidely odd, especially those that come from the Grimm Collection. Soon enough Elizabeth learns that the Grimm Collection houses magical items, the actual objects mentioned in fairytales: the dancing shoes of the twelve dancing princesses and the talking mirror from Snow White, to name a few. As Elizabeth learns about magic, she also learns that someone has been stealing from the Grimm Collection, some of her co-workers have mysteriously disappeared, and there are rumors of a huge, fantastic bird seen winging around the Repository. Elizabeth doesn't want to believe that her fellow page, the handsome, popular Marc Merritt, could possibly be involved, but she's seen him borrowing magical items without permission. Another of the pages, the alluring Anjali, helps Marc cover his tracks, and soon they've got Elizabeth aiding in the deception too. She won't steal anything from the Grimm Collection, but she soon earns borrowing privileges. To take out a magical item, the borrower must leave a deposit--and not a cash deposit either. Leaving a firstborn child suffices, as does leaving one's sense of humor, one's beauty, or any other highly valued notion. Elizabeth borrows a mermaid's comb, leaving behind her sense of direction--with amusing results. The closer she gets to her fellow staff--Marc, Anjali, and the prickly Aaron, who suspects all of the others,--the less Elizabeth can believe any of them are thieves. When one of her friends disappears, Elizabeth and those left behind are determined to find the culprit.

I very much enjoyed The Grimm Legacy. Any librarian or library lover will appreciate the world of the Repository, and any reader who enjoys fantasy and magic will yearn for a place they too could check out magical objects. What was especially strong in this tale was the friendship/rivalry between the four teenagers. Shulman also adds in some endearing younger characters--Marc's baby brother, and Anjali's annoying younger sister. (Annoying to Anjali that is; I loved her.) I quite enjoyed the descriptions of the magical items, the drawbacks of using certain magic, and especially, the wickedness of Snow White's stepmother's mirror--an object that tells the truth but can twist it just enough to sow discord. If I have one complaint, it's that I wish the villains of the piece were a bit more frightening. They're not pussy cats, but they're not truly terrifying either. Still, that's a minor complaint in a book that enchants (no pun intended.) This book contains absolutely no naughty language and nothing more blush-worthy than kissing, so it's a good recommendation for readers looking for a wholesome but interesting adventure.

Beastly

Beastly, the movie, is coming out in early March and I'm interested in seeing how faithful it will be to the book by Alex Flinn. I read the book several months back. It's an urban, modernized version of "Beauty and the Beast" from a teenage Beast's point of view.

Rich, spoiled Kyle treats people like crap. He gets his comeuppance when a witch curses him and he turns into a frightful, hairy beast. No waxing, lasering or shaving makes a dent in his appearance. This is magic, after all. And the spell can only be broken if he redeems himself by finding someone to love him for who he is not what he looks like.

There's quite a bit of willing suspension of disbelief neccesary to enjoy the book. Obviously it can't be too realistic when it's a fairy tale. Alex Flinn does a good job making it as believable as possible though. So, how will the movie fare?

Hmm, well the very first thing I noticed upon seeing publicity posters for the movie is that the beast is not covered in hair. Instead he looks like a tattooed and artistically scarred specimen. Considering that we see people like this all the time in our society, I wonder how beastly the movie makers truly wanted to make him. Beastly but still hot underneath? Perhaps. I'm a little unsure how I will like the movie, but I'm giving it a go. Neil Patrick Harris is in it, and that might just be good enough for me.

I suggest reading the book first. Then you too can have the fun of comparing and contrasting the stories.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Library pages are the unsung heroes of the information world. 


Think about it.  You go to the library, you check out a book, you bring it back a few weeks later.  You're done. But somebody has to get that book back on the shelf.  That somebody is a library page.


Being a page is a thankless, repetitive task.  Back in my paging days, I would curse the future nurses of the world, as they routinely made a mess of the medical journals at my community college library.  Also earning my ire in my days as a page: Latin professors, police academy candidates, and anyone who needed to use the microfilm reader. 


Elizabeth Rew is a page too, but her day to day work is a little more interesting than re-alphabetizing the dinosaur picture books.  She is a page at the New York Circulating Material Repository, a library that loans objects instead of books.  Need a doublet for your Shakespeare production?  You can check it out.  Want an antique chess set for your afternoon game?  It's here.  Marie Antoinette's wig?  Check.  Specimens from every time period and culture can be found at the Repository.  


The Repository is also home to more fantastic items, like the Wicked Queen's Mirror, Seven League Boots and the Dancing Princesses' Slippers.  These items live in the Grimm Collection, a gathering of magical objects straight out of fairy tales.  Even better, pages can sometimes check magical items out of the Collection.  Of course, you have to leave a deposit, like your sense of direction or your first born child. 


Another benefit of working at the Repository is the other pages.  Elizabeth has had a hard time fitting in at her new school, but now she has friends, including basketball stud Marc Merritt.     Her step-mom is super cheap, expecting her to wear her stepsisters' hand-me-downs, but now she has money of her own.   Everything would be great -- if only things weren't getting weird at the Repository.

Not to long ago, a page was fired for switching valuable items for fakes.  And now it seems that someone is doing the same thing with the magical items as well.  Elizabeth and her friends find themselves in the middle of a fairy-tale theft operation, complete with enchanted princesses, flying carpets and mystical keys.

As a former page, and a lover of old fairy tales, I couldn't wait to read The Grimm Legacy.  And I wasn't disappointed, as there's lots of adventure and action, a little romance, and some fun characters. Shulman drops some tantalizing hints about other collections at the Repository, so hopefully, Elizabeth and her friends will be paging for some time to come.