Tag Archive for: Retelling

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Alice In Everville

Alice In EvervilleTitle: Alice in Everville
Author: S.C. Langgle
Genre: Mystery, Young Adult
Format: Kindle
Pages: 180
Reason Read: Received for Review
Rating:

My Thoughts

Even though ALICE IN EVERVILLE was self-published, I was excited to read it. The premise sounded like so much fun, but the execution wasn’t done well at all. The story and writing were lacking in so many areas, but most particularly in character and story development. It felt more like a rough draft than a finished story.

I didn’t feel the urgency and time crunch Alice felt about deciphering Sylvie Plate’s code in her poems. The story felt really contrived and the allusions lacked subtlety. It took me out of the story because I kept rolling my eyes.

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The Goose Girl

The Goose GirlTitle: The Goose Girl
Author: Shannon Hale
Series: Books of Bayern #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Pages: 383
Reason Read: Recommended
Rating:

Also in this series: Enna Burning, River Secrets, Forest Born
My Thoughts

I really enjoyed THE GOOSE GIRL. Even though I wasn’t immediately captivated by the story, I found it enjoyable. I loved the premise of elemental speaking gifts, such as Isi’s wind-speaking gift. The language was quite fascinating and made for an interesting story. I absolutely adore Isi and I loved Geric. I loved their relationship and how it came to be.

I also loved Hale’s way with words. In an interview written in the back of ENNA BURNING, Hale described exactly the way I felt about her writing:

I’m so impressed with writers who grip the reader from the very beginning, but I can’t seem to do it. I’m cursed to have to build a story slowly, it seems. And I can’t do a book in two or three drafts as some do, but a minimum of a dozen full rewrites…. I love trying to find just the right words, just the right way to say something.

I thought Hale did an excellent job at “find[ing] just the right words, just the right way to say something.” She’s definitely a master wordsmith and I’m glad I gave her writing a try. I want to read her other books and I’m especially excited to read ENNA BURNING to see how the story progresses.