Book Review: Cinderella’s Dress by Shonna Slayton

Kate simply wants to create window displays at the department store where she’s working, trying to help out with the war effort. But when long-lost relatives from Poland arrive with a steamer trunk they claim holds the Cinderella’s dress, life gets complicated.

Now, with a father missing in action, her new sweetheart shipped off to boot camp, and her great aunt losing her wits, Kate has to unravel the mystery before it’s too late.

After all, the descendants of the wicked stepsisters will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve.

My Review:

The first time I came across Cinderella’s Dress was at ALA, when I met Shonna. She was so incredibly sweet and published by Entangled, and I absolutely love everything about that publishing company.

I immediately fell in love with the main character of this book. She stands out from page one to the last. She wants to be different but she’s not in your face about it. She’s challenging in such a small way…she doesn’t want to simply be a shop girl, a model. She wants to create beautiful window displays, something that she’s not allowed to do. It’s so simple but I love her determination to make this happen. It’s such a small thing.

What I really love about this book is that it mixes two things I love so much: history and fairy tale. I love historical novels and this takes place in the 40s, during the war. It’s always fun to read about fictional teens in real time periods because you realize how much we’ve had in common over the years, despite the changes to our lifestyles, etc. Even though Kate lives in a totally different time, you connect with her and you care about her and those she cares about.

I also love the fairy tale element. I love the princess stories, all versions of them, from the originals to the Disney versions to the stories that are being created in the books that I read. Cinderella is one of the oldest and well known fairy tales and a story about her dress and the importance of it was addicting from page one to the last page. It’s enchanting and magical. I’m a girl, I love the idea of a princess dress and how a simple night out away from a life you want to escape can change absolutely everything. This book plays on that spirit and that is what makes this book so good. Cinderella’s dress is magic, through out the entire book.

All in all, Shonna writes an incredible novel. The characters, the history, the story of Cinderella and her dress are all written so well and are absolutely beautiful from beginning to end. This is a book that is an absolute must.

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

How I Survived YALLWEST 2015!

April 22, 2015April 22, 20153 Comments

Whew! Hello everyone! I know that it has been awhile! I’ve been SO very busy the past few weeks. Between WonderCon, viagra 60mg YALLWEST, malady Festival of Books and Star Wars Celebration…this girl is very busy in the month of April! I hope you’re all following me on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with my crazy adventures!

This previous weekend was the inaugural event of YALLWest. YALLFest has been taking place for a handful of years now and the brains behind it decided to create a sister event here in California, order all about YA. You can imagine my excitement for this event, especially when they announced that authors like Libba Bray and Richelle Mead and so on would be in attendance. I was SO excited for this event. I was approved for press, and set up a couple interviews with some authors (coming soon!) and was ready for the craziness!

And true craziness it was! It was the inaugural year so there were definitely some hiccups along the way but honestly it felt like a lot of other author/book/convention events that I’ve done in the past. It helps to tag team, it helps to have a battle plan and it also helps to know that some things are going to be sacrificed. You might have to miss a signing to get a panel or a panel in order to catch a signing. But all in all, it was an absolute blast!

Day One!

We arrived on Saturday, bright and early, and there was a nice loooooong line wrapped around the building. It took a bit for us to get in there but when we finally did, I was ready for it. There were already authors milling about and I spotted Richelle Mead! I basically DIED. I talked to her SUPER briefly but *sigh* it was awesome.

We immediately moved into the bigger area. There was a HUGE line to buy books (ah, but I had thought ahead!) and a HUGE line to get into the hall for the opening keynote with Ransom Riggs. We decided to go scope out Veronica Roth’s line and I’m glad we did. We ended up about 20 people into the line and we’ve all met Ransom so many times, missing his keynote wasn’t the total end of the world.

We met Veronica Roth, briefly and I got my Four book signed, which is the only one I hadn’t gotten signed yet. My sister, who I brought for the weekend as my helper, hadn’t met Veronica yet so I was excited for her more than anything haha. She had a blast meeting Veronica.

The rest of the day became a total blur! I met a ton of really great authors, like Richelle Mead (who I pretty much died over), Libba Bray, Susan Ee, Victoria Aveyard. SO many. There were so many authors to meet, and I was exhausted, and I barely ate or drank anything but it was so worth it to get the experience I wanted. There were so many amazing authors in attendance this year and it was just awesome.

Meeting Libba Bray was probably one of the best parts of the day. I’ve been reading her books for so many years and I’ve been wanting to meet her for so long. I told her I loved her books so much and I told her that I’ve had to buy her books multiple times because I just read them so much. She thanked me for providing her son with a college education in the future and even signed my book with that!

I also interviewed Richelle Mead as well. That was one of the most nerve wracking things I’ve ever done and I can’t believe that I got through the whole thing without being a total doofus. She was really sweet, and took a picture with me, and was extremely patient with me. I’m really glad I got that opportunity, for sure. I got all my books (except The Fiery Heart and Ruby Circle) signed, thanks to my sister, and a couple awesome people in line.

The best part of day one was the smackdown at the end of the day. Hosted by authors Shannon Hale and Brendan Reichs, it was a fun show full of games and authors reading some of the terrible things they wrote when they were teens. Seriously. So much fun. Then Libba Bray’s band, Tiger Beat, played and they were just a total blast. It was a long and a completely exhausting day but so worth it.

Note: none of the photos uploaded in the order they were supposed, and honestly, I don’t care haha!

When E. Lockhart tried to read her old school fan fiction of Pippi Longstocking, she and Alex London couldn’t get more than a couple words out before literally cracking up. It was HILARIOUS.

The fantastic picture that my friend Jessica took of me and Libba. SO fantastic!

My signed book. I had to share this particular one because its just so great.

I absolutely loved this picture of Sylvia, Cassie and I with the YALLWest surfboard!

Me and Richelle Mead after our interview :)

My super awesome awkward selfie with Richelle as she signed literally all of my books.

Me and Kass Morgan, who writes the 100 series!

My super AMAZING selfie with Libba Bray. Beautiful.

Melissa de la Cruz and Margaret Stohl, introducing the Smackdown!

My younger sister meeting Veronica Roth :)

The YA author version of Hollywood Squares!

Me and Susan Ee, the author of the Penryn and the End of the Days series.

Veronica Roth during YA Taboo. She’s so fabulous!

So I was walking past the Epic Reads booth when I ran into a friend of mine. We talked a bit and then she shared that she had gotten her hands on this book and I went into immediate, omg I need this NOW. I have been reading the Princess Diaries series since I was 12 years old. There was a long line for it and you had to spin to win it but I guess one of the ladies in the booth noticed me and decided to hand one over to me. And. I. Died. I literally started crying. Legit tears. Crying.

My friends waiting in line to meet Veronica Roth.

Shannon Hale and Brendan Reichs, hosting the Smackdown!

Libba Bray’s band, Tiger Beat, rocking out!

I look awkward and tired, but that sounds about right ;)

Day Two

Day two was absolutely amazing as well. The day was so nice, as this was held at Santa Monica Library, which was only a few blocks away from the beach, so it was just a beautiful day. It was also much more relaxing than the day before, as it was local author day and because I’m a local, I spent more time visiting with authors that I knew as friends. It was awesome.

I got my hands on a lot of free books, including a copy of Robin Benway’s Emmy and Oliver. I had already read it, having gotten an eARC of it but I was so excited to grab an actual copy of it and get it signed. Robin is so awesome.

I also grabbed a copy of Robin Schneider’s new book too, and an extra one as well, for a giveaway so get excited about that! I tried some new food at the food trucks, partied hard in the photo booth, and just had a great day.

I also managed to hang out at more panels than I had the day before. The lightning round panel was fabulous, and the final panel of the day was super cool, and I even got to participate as the official spin the wheel girl. They wrote a fan fiction up on stage, using books and characters created by Leigh Bardugo, Veronica Roth, Marie Lu and Ransom Riggs. SO much fun.

Me and the super awesome Danielle Paige, who wrote Dorothy Must Die.

Me and my dear friend, Alex. Both of us are aspiring authors and took the opportunity to jump up on stage. We know that one day we’ll be up on that stage again, not just as bloggers and readers, but as published writers!

Me and my dear friend Jessica Brody. I swear, I’m much happier to see her than I look. (What is UP with that face…) I already have all of her books signed, of course, but I grabbed an extra copy of her amazing book, Unremembered, for a giveaway!

Me and the SUPER adorable Robin Schneider.

Me and Marie Lu. Also someone whose books I already own and have signed. But I had to say hi!

Me and my awesome friend Tasha. If you don’t follow her on YouTube, you SO definitely should!

I was taking a picture with the YallWest chairs when Alex London photobombed. Then he felt bad but I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

This is actually a really awesome picture of me and Robin Benway. I adore her and you MUST pick up Emmy and Oliver when it hits bookstores in June.

Another awesome author friend of mine. So glad I got to stop by and say hello to her!

I was a terrible person and snuck a couple pictures of Veronica Roth while she was moderating a panel.

Me and the absolutely darling Christine, who is a pretty well known BookTuber. She’s such a sweetheart and I’m sure you all totally know who she is!

Another picture of me and Alex being silly on stage.

The lightning round panel, where authors got asked questions and had to think of the very first answer that came to mind. It was really fun to watch, especially since I really love the authors that were on stage!

Me and the darling Morgan Matson. I adore her so much and we talked about how we had barely any pictures together so we took one together!

My book haul! The two tall piles are all my signed books from the fest. The small pile are all the extras I grabbed for…you guessed it, a giveaway!! So many good ones. Keep an eye out for that, because its coming soon!

All in all, I had an amazing time. I spent the weekend with a ton of great friends, met new ones, met internet friends in real life, and even met a couple of you guys! I got to talk about books and writing and I fangirled hard over a ton of awesome authors. I even got to interview one of my favorite ones!

I’m really looking forward to YALLWest next year and I am actually maybe hoping to make it to YALLFest in November! We shall see. Now I have a nice break until mid-May when I shall return to the book world for the RT Book Lovers Convention! EEK!

Music Monday: “Hurricane” by Something Corporate

April 13, 2015April 14, 2015Leave a comment

“Hurricane” by Something Corporate

Shake down you make me break
For goodness sake
I think I’m on the edge
Of something new with you
Shout out don’t drown the sound
I’ll drown you out
You’ll never scream so loud
As I want to scream with you

Standing there with your smile blinding
Your eyes from seeing
My face as I’m dying

To figure out a girl

But she drifts so far away
I’m on her coast
So maybe I should stay
And map around your world

So don’t say
“These currents are still killing me”
And you can’t explain
But the wind went and pulled me into your hurricane
Into your hurricane

Stand up don’t make a sound
Your ears might bleed
There are sweet fluorescent enemies
That live inside of me
The world moves faster than I knew
Not fast enough to not creep up on you
And the space we put between
So pull me under your weather patterns
Your cold fronts and the rain don’t matter
Because the sun burns what I needed

[Chorus]
So don’t say
“These currents are still killing me”
And you can’t explain
But the wind went and pulled you into the hurricane
Into the hurricane

You don’t do it on purpose
But you make me shake
Now I count the hours ’til you wake
With your babies breath
Breathe symphonies
Come on sweet catastrophe

Well, more about maybe this time I can follow through
I can feel complete
Stop paying dues
Stop the rain from falling
Keep my ocean calm
This time I know nothing’s wrong

[Chorus]
So don’t say
“These currents are still killing me”
And you can’t explain
But the wind went and pulled me in and no,
You don’t say
“These currents are still killing me”
And you can’t explain
But the wind went and pulled me into your hurricane
Into your hurricane
Into your hurricane

Find Something Corporate

Something Corporate is no longer an active band and have not been active since the mid 2000s. Most of these links go to the lead singer’s social medias, as Andrew McMahon is still VERY active!

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / Tumblr / iTunes

Release Day: ‘Awakening’ by Shannon Duffy Review and Giveaway!

April 7, 2015April 6, 2020Leave a comment

A very very Happy Release Day to Shannon Duffy!

Her novel, Awakening, has just released today through Entangled Teen. Thanks to the seriously awesome people from ET that sent an ARC my way. I absolutely LOVED that book.

But more on that later.

First…let’s meet the author!

Continue reading →

Tuesday Top Ten – Underrated YA Book Series

April 7, 2015April 7, 20151 Comment

So I was browsing around Facebook yesterday when I came across a Buzzfeed article about the 29 Underrated YA Book Series. Of course I had to click on it.

And while I love several of the choices on that list, no rx I thought, try I should do my own list. There are GREAT series on there, but a lot of them aren’t what I would call underrated or unnoticed. Percy Jackson? Huge. HUGE. And they got two movies. Infernal Devices? Again. HUGE. All Souls? Incredibly popular and not YA right? I don’t know to be honest, I haven’t read them. I know they aren’t shelved with YA. The Chicken Soup series? Didn’t everyone have those when I was in middle school/high school? And so on.

So that brings us to today’s Tuesday Top Ten…my favorite YA series that just don’t get enough attention. Which is why I’m talking about them. So they get more attention. Because I’m just awesome that way.

Let’s do this.

Oh, I’ll add one more thing. All of these get GREAT reviews, and have received an abundance of praise and accolades and all the huge reviewers and all that love them. By “underrated” I mean, by the masses that tend to enjoy YA. The people that don’t much more than Hunger Games and Divergent and that sort of thing.

Moving on…

10. The Across the Universe Trilogy by Beth Revis

I love love love this series. Beth Revis takes humanity, sticks them on a space ship and gets them lost for centuries. Humanity has basically all but disappeared on this ship until one of the humans who was supposed to be frozen until they arrive at this “new” earth awakes…and chaos and romance and all sorts of things erupt. Its fantastic. There is just SO much about this series that is so good. I have a hard time finding people who have read it and I get so excited when I do!

9. The Covenant Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

So JLA was on this BuzzFeed list, but with the Lux series. That series, the Wait for You series and the Dark Elements series…they’re all fairly popular. They are the ones that I feel like people talk about when it comes to JLA. But my absolute favorite of her series is hands down The Covenant series. SO freakin good! Alex and Aidan are hot as hell, they have a steamy and intense and fun romance, and their world is chaotic and full of action and drama and …more intensity. And its Greek mythology with a new twist and I love every single bit of it.

8. The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot is not exactly underrated but she has so many series that often times some of them get lost underneath the ones she’s really known for like The Princess Diaries. This is one of my absolute favorites by her. It has ghosts! And a girl who likes to beat them up when they don’t want to cooperate. And a super hot Spanish ghost that’s a really great kisser. Its just awesome. The entire series is just SO flippin good. Meg manages to write this amazing paranormal romance that also makes you laugh again and again and again.

7. The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima

This series was actually on the list and it was one of the few that I really agreed should be on this list. I first picked up this list when my ex told me to pick out a book and I thought the cover was beautiful and then I proceeded to consume the entire series in a matter of days. Its so beautifully written and it has everything you could want in a book. It has romance and action and politics and action and humor and discovery and uncertainty and god…everything. I can’t speak highly enough of this series. Its legitimately one of my favorites ever.

6. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray

UGH. God. This series. I’m meeting Libba for the first time this weekend at YALL West, and I legit can’t handle that kind of pressure. I’m going to cry or something. I actually accidentally picked up the second book first (whoops) but rectified and continued on to enjoy this beautiful trilogy. It takes place in Victorian English countryside at a boarding school that is hiding all sorts of secrets. Its so dark but funny at the same time and its full of a new kind of magic and I love every bit of it. I need a re-read of this soon actually…

5. The Girl of Fire and Thorns Series by Rae Carson

Let’s put it this way: I would not drive all the way to Vegas (about a 4 to 5 hour drive) just to meet her for one day if I didn’t think this series was that amazing. What makes this great is that its this sort of Chosen One story but the Chosen One is the last person you’d expect. Elisa is fat and uncertain and unsure and you kind sit there and think, her? Really? But its just so great. And the world building and the magic and the evolution of the main character throughout the three books…my little book loving heart just can’t handle the beauty of this trilogy.

4. The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce

There WAS a series by Tammy on the list but I chose this one for a huge reason: its the first series of the epicness of the Tortall world. The one they chose is the third one and kind of…spoils the first two series for sure. haha. Plus let’s face it…Tammy has a handle on this YA fantasy since the early 80s and just not enough people are reading her. She’s amazing. Her writing, the characters she creates, the way she manages to keep the world of Tortall alive after so many decades…its impossible not to absolutely love her. This series is about a girl who disguises her gender for YEARS in order to become a knight, and then basically does whatever the hell she wants once everyone finds out. YES. I want to shove all of her books down all of your throats. Sorry. Not really.

3. The Airhead Trilogy by Meg Cabot

Why, yes, I did pick two Meg Cabot series. This is another one that kind of disappears when it comes to Meg. But its legitimately my favorite. Besides Princess Diaries. Because its just SO weird and bizarre and I love it. Em Watts dies…but not really. At the same time as her body dies, supermodel Nikki Howard as a brain aneurysm. Doctors save her life by implanting her brain into Nikki’s body, but she has to live her life as Nikki and no one can know that she was once Em. Its seriously the most bizarre thing ever, especially once you realize there’s so much more to it than meets the eye. And its just straight up hilarious.

2. The Unremembered Trilogy by Jessica Brody

The finale of this trilogy just released less than two months ago and I’m still reeling from it. I can barely express my emotions about it. Sigh. Anyway. This is a series that’s absolutely incredible and seriously does NOT get enough credit. I want to see more of those purple books in people’s hands. Seriously. I can’t even explain how great this trilogy is. Its like…Bourne Identity but with a super badass girl instead of Matt Damon and it has superhumans called Ex-Gens and time travel and cool technology and romance and action and its just amazing. There are not nearly enough people reading it and you guys need to be reading it. Now. Go.

1. The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

I love Leigh from the bottom of my heart to the tip top of my head all the way to my little toes. She’s AMAZING and her series just proves that. She has had SUCH success with it, but its nothing to the extend that a ton of people know about it and I want to change that. Her trilogy is perfection and its such a great example of how AMAZING YA fantasy…and YA in general…can be. She’s a terrific writer and a fabulous storyteller. This is another series that needs a re-read soon because now all I can think about is how much I love these books!

* * * * * *

Music Monday: “Who’s Lost and Found Now?” by Green Light Theory

April 6, 2015Leave a comment

“Who’s Lost and Found Now?” by Green Light Theory

I made it! Technically its still Monday :)

I’m sharing a band that I super love and that need YOUR help to achieve a dream of theirs! They want to get on Warped Tour this summer, more about and let me tell you, page they SO deserve it :) They’re awesome, passionate, dedicated and they make me laugh. I haven’t seen them in so long and it makes me sad as hell. They are seriously awesome guys. And YOU can help them get to Warped Tour. Follow THIS link (please, please do it!!), and get their rating up on their page. Listen to their songs, leave comments, etc. And make sure to follow them on all their super cool pages below!

I don’t have lyrics for this :( Sorry. But watch it anyway and sing along. I first saw them do a pop up acoustic thing outside a Set it Off show and they completely sold me on just that!

Find Green Light Theory

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / iTunes

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