ARC Review: Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer

Author: Maureen McGowan

Genre: Fiction, YA, Fairy Tales, Paranormal, MG, Choose Your Own Adventure

Release: April, 2011

Source: Netgalley

Rating: 4/5

Description: In this thrilling story full of adventure and romance, Sleeping Beauty is more than just a lonely princess waiting for her prince—she's a brave, tenacious girl who never backs down from a challenge. With vampire-slaying talents that she practices in secret, Sleeping Beauty puts her courage to the test in the dark of night, fighting evil as she searches for a way to break the spell that has cut her off from her family. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Sleeping Beauty and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you've ever read! Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is an entirely new type of fairy tale–one that will keep today's kids guessing and offer them hours of magical fun.

Review:

What I Didn't Like

• It's marketed as a book for young adults, but I think the language is more on the middle grade level. Just my opinion.
• It got silly at times throughout the novel.
• The "choose your own adventure" part of the book has you thinking for Lucette rather than Lucette thinking for herself.

What I Liked

• Ms. McGowan gives an interesting twist to a classic fairy tale. I love the "fractured" fairy tale...some more so than the classics.
• What I liked about the "choose your own adventure" bit was the fact that it made you a part of the story, despite the fact that you did the thinking rather than Lucette. Kids would love to be able to make the decisions, so it works for them.
• Princess Lucette is your regular damsel in distress. Instead of a helpless princess waiting on her prince to rescue her, she's a brave, strong princess who does the saving along with her prince. She's also more of a tomboy than a pampered, spoiled princess.
• I liked the twisted curse: During the day, while the everyone in the kingdom was awake, Lucette slept. During the night, when the vampires roamed, Lucette was awake while the kingdom slept.

Overall, Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer was a pretty good book. I enjoyed the twist and loved the fact that Lucette was an awesomely brave heroine. If you love fairy tales with a twist, this book is definitely for you.

Book Review: Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation

Author: Matt Myklusch
Genre: Middle Grade; Fantasy
Release Date: August, 2010
Source: Library
Rating: 5/5

Description: All Jack Blank knows is his bleak, dreary life at St. Barnaby's Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost, an orphanage that sinks further into the swampland of New Jersey with each passing year. His aptitude tests predict that he will spend a long, unhappy career as a toilet brush cleaner. His only chance at escape comes through the comic books donated years ago to the orphanage that he secretly reads in the dark corners of the library.

Everything changes one icy gray morning when Jack receives two visitors that alter his life forever. The first is a deadly robot straight out of one of his comic books that tries its best to blow him up. The second is an emissary from a secret country called the Imagine Nation, an astonishing place where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in our world originate - including Jack.

Jack soon discovers that he has an amazing ability--one that could make him the savior of the Imagine Nation and the world beyond, or the biggest threat they've ever faced.

Review: Two words describe this book: so awesome! I loved it. There are similarities between this series and the Harry Potter series - orphan boy discovers powers he didn't know existed; orphan boy goes to a hidden world - but that's where the similarities end. Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation is in a class of its own.

What I Didn't Like...

• Um...nothing. I couldn't find any unlikeable thing about this book. Oh, I didn't like that it had to end. I have to actually wait for the next book in the series. Oh, the pain!

What I Did Like...

• Jack Blank - I loved this character. He's memorable, likeable, funny...I found myself rooting for him throughout the whole book, which is what writers aim for when coming up with protagonists. His last name isn't really Blank, that's just the name they gave because no one knows who his parents are.
• Imagine Nation - The name of this world is cool in itself, but the actual world is cool, too. Imagine Nation is where you find all creatures that come from the imagination of humans - superheroes, supervillians, aliens, etc. Many of the inhabitants of Imagine Nation are from the comic books Jack loves to read.
• The Whole Story - This book is full of action! I loved it from beginning to end. It was like one big adventurous ride. The descriptions were awesome. I could actually picture what was happening and what the world would look like. The cover is what drew me in. The story is what kept me in.

I loved loved LOVED this book. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes a good read...especially if you like fantasy books. Boys will love this book. Girls as well as adults will too. I so cannot wait for book #2, Accidental Hero to come out (April 26th).