52. Kiss of Deception

The Remnant Chronicles #1
listened to on Audible
2014, Henry Holt
492 pgs.
YA Fantasy
Finished 8/10/15
Goodreads rating: 4.08
My rating: 3

First line/s:  "Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born."

My comments:  I read this for my YA book group and enjoyed it, for the most part, very much. It was recorded by four different voices, one for Lia, one for Rafe, one for Kaden, and a female voice for the beginning entries of each of the seventy-something chapters. Other than the question: who is the prince...who is the assassin? there were very few surprises. I'm not a huge fan of love triangles, so that's a point off, and there were sections that dragged a bit, but not enough so that I was bored. Lia is the rebellious, I'm-going-to-do-what-I-want-unless-you-give-me-a-good-reason-not-to princess/heroine, which does get a tiny bit tiring. It would be nice if she took a misstep once in awhile. Three stars means I liked it, which I did. And it left off with a nice cliffhanger, so I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

Becky's Review from Becky's Book Reviews

Goodreads synopsis:  A princess must find her place in a reborn world.
She flees on her wedding day.
She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.
She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.
She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.
          The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.
          Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink - Jane Yolen & Heidi E. Y. Stemple

Illustrated by Anne-Sophie Languetin
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010
ages 3-6
$15.99
32 pages
Endpapers: gold

Written by the prolific Jane Yolen and her daughter, the story is told in rhyming couplets. We see many, many girls - none wearing pink - but all wearing sparkly crowns.

"Some princesses break their nails
planting flowers into pails,
driving dump trucks, moving dirt,
dressed in an extra-large hand-me-down shirt.

......and a sparkly crown."

Bright, full page illustrations with no white and a particularly nice font (called Family Cat). However, I don't care for the cover. Does that scream "pick me up?" Not for me.

I wonder how many books Jane Yolen will write or cowrite in 2010?

49. The Birthday Ball - Lois Lowry

Illustrated by Jules Feiffer
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010
HC $16.00
186 pages
for: Middle grades
Lexile: 870L
Ages 8-12
Rating: 4

This is a very cute fairy tale, written craftily with all sorts of word play and a great deal of alliteration.

Princess Patricia Priscilla is worried about her 16th birthday the next week when she'll have to chose a husband, one of three horrid choices. Counts who are conjoined twins who argue incessantly, a fat, ugly, rotten-toothed Duke who spits whenever he speaks, and an oily-haired narcisist whose dandruff is dusted away by men hired for only that job. And she's bored. So she decides to spend the next week as just plain "Pat," sneaking out of the castle to attend the local school incognito. There she meets the school teacher, a kind young man, and befriends all the village children.

It's a typical story told in a descriptive, jolly way, leaving us all, naturally, cheering in the end when all it's wrapped up tightly and well. A quick, fun read.

I've never been particularly fond of Jules Feiffer's illustrations, and I didn't like them in this book. They don't help the picture in my mind at all, they make it much more comical than the imaginative reality that I like.

Princess Hyancinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) - Florence Parry Heide

Illustrated by Lane Smith
Schwartz & Wade Books (Random House) 2009
$17.99
40 pgs.
Rating: 4
Endpaper: curlicues

Princess Hyacinth floats. The only thing that can be done about it is to belt her into her seat or weigh her down. She has a very boring life because her parents, naturally, won't let her go outside for fear she'll float away totally.

One day Hyacinth's had enough of this boredom, so outside she goes, weighed down so thoroughly that she can barely move. She sees a balloon seller and gets a brainstorm - one that ultimjately and unfortunately sends her floating up into the endless sky.

But there's a hero, and a rescue, and a happy ending for Princess Hyacinth's boredom.

Very cute story.

Here's another review from Bri Meets Books.

The Hinky Pink - Megan McDonald

Illustrated by Brian Floca
Published 2008
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Pumpkin

Similes and metaphors: "Her stitches were straight as a new set of teeth. Her French knots were perfect roses. Her lace, why it was as wispy as any spider web in the kingdom." Alliteration and elipses: "If only she could embroider silk and satin, touch velvet and voile..." Great vocabulary: "Holy ratatouille!" "Poodle curls as plain as pennoni." Great verbs: loomed, creaked, snatched, peered,

This is a terrific folk tale, based on another but twisted and turned and recreated by Megan McDonald. There are a couple of places that I thought there was something missing, even going so far as to see if two pages were stuck together. Other than that, it was good storytelling. She might have even gone a little overboard with the figurative language, so this would be a great teaching tool for many reasongs.

Anabel, a young seamstress who dreams of creating and stitchin a ball gown, is called to the home of a princess and given one week to do so. They give her a beautiful tower room in which to live and sew, but she finds she cannot sleep. Something is pinching her and stealing her covers all night long. She ingeniously figures out how to solve this problem just before it's too late and she'll not finish the beautiful gown she's making. But, as we know will happen, all comes out perfectly, tra la!

Lots of text, very cute illustrations, good story. This works together well. I'd love to read it to kids and ask them to watch for places that it needs a few more details to get from one point to the next! Transitions, organization.....

First Line/s: 'Back when mirrors could talk and princes were frogs, there lived a girl in Old Italy named Anabel. Alas, not Anabella."

The Princess Gown - Linda Leopold Strauss

Illustrated by Malene Reynolds Laugesen
2008
Rating: 4 (I was surprised by my reaction)
Endpapers: Bright pink (Ashley would love it)

The multi-generation, many-siblinged Abraham family is putting the final touches on a gorgeous wedding gown. It's not just any wedding gown - it's one that will be presented as a possiblity to the princess. If chosen (from many), the Abrahams will become official embroiderers to the princess, and they'll be saved from the poorhouse. But a tiny soil is found, one that they are unable to remove. They change it into a very small emboidered squirrel - the princess' favorite - which ultimately helps them wint the competition.

I thought this story would be a complete fairy tale (well, it was, in a way), but it was based on a family's true story during the reign of Queen Victoria in England. (And there were sixteen Abraham children, with all of them putting a stitch into the final product.) Sure, it's a little corny, but it's told in a lovely way, and the illustratons are great - within a box that takes up 3/4 of the double-page spread, with the text in the other quarter. Great vocabulary, snazzy verbs, with a few surprises here and there - a totally satisfying read.

Twenty-six Princesses - Dave Horowitz

For: Kids...and not just girls...
Published: 2008
Rating: 4/5
Read: October, 2008
Endpapers: Two shades of lavender, cut paper doll princess silhouettes holding hands, each with a letter of the alphabet across their body
Cute couplets.

Princess Alice. First to the palace. (Lots of frowing frogs at the door.)
Princess Betty. Still getting ready. (A frog is her servant.)
Princess Criss. Stealing a kiss. (Abominable spelling! Oh well. Frowning frog is pushing her away as her lips approach.)
Princess Dot. A lady she's not.
Princess Elle. Starting to yell.
Princess Flo. Waiting to go. (Frog repairman is trying to fix wheel as Flo frowningly watches.)
Princess Grace. Making a face.
.....and so on.
(Princess Nell. What's that smell? She's "toot"ed.)
Princess Zaire. Finally there.
Put 'em all together and what do you get?
A ROYAL PAIN IN THE ALPHABET!

The last two-page spread is everyone at the party - it's fun trying to pick out who's who. And all the guys are frogs.

No white space. large pages, illustration is in a center rectangle, outlined in a thin white line, the framed with a complimentary color to the edge of the page. The pictures aren't really exciting;, but they're fun.