Betsy Cornwell

Robin Hood has always been one of my favorite stories (I mean, who doesn't like sticking it to corrupt authorities and defending freedom?), and this retelling does the themes justice while also standing solidly on its own feet.

It deals with a lot more very serious issues than I expected (CW: attempted suicide, bullying, sibling abuse, and off-screen rape), but these issues are treated very well. I was fully invested in the multitude of characters, how they worked through the issues, and how show more they gradually learned to love and trust each other.

Sylvie and Jane's growing bond was wonderful. On a personal level I normally want nothing to do with children or birth, but the birth scene is one of the best examples of friendship and support I've ever read. It perfectly balances the danger and pain of childbirth with the joy it brings. Beautiful.

I loved the down-to-earth, practical feel in the book. It mentions things that many other books avoid, like breastfeeding around others, as if it's just a totally normal thing (which of course it should be). The complete lack of men freaking out about dressing in women's clothing, in fact embracing it, was so refreshing.

Overall this book goes to some dark places, which makes the lighthearted times that much more satisfying. Highly recommend. show less

Where do I even start? I absolutely adored following the main trio as their loving relationship only grows in beautiful and healthy ways. I LOVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP SO MUCH. I love how Nick grows as a person, through discovering her strengths and recognizing and working through her weaknesses. The book tackles many complex themes and pulls it off.

Most of all, though, the writing in this book is top notch. Utterly gorgeous. I can't quote specific lines because they are so embedded into the show more context of the book that they wouldn't make sense individually. The story is built through a powerful web of words and phrases that often made me stop, re-read, and roll their beauty around in my mind. I have such a clear picture of what the world looks like, but also how Nick sees it. I felt fully invested in experiencing the world and story from Nick's perspective. Cornwell does a masterful job of expressing how Nick reacts to events, of fully pulling in the reader and somehow making the characters' emotions crystal clear with complex, stunning wordsmithing. I legit sobbed-not just tears, full on sobbing-at one point.

I cannot recommend this duology enough. show less

I adore fairy tale retellings, and I especially like it when the story takes a brand new twist on the familiar tale. Cornwell's Mechanica may be one of the most refreshing Cinderella retelling I've come across since Cinder. The world-building is fascinating. The story takes place in a kingdom in which Faerie magic has been banned because a Fey assassin killed the heir to the throne.

Nicolette’s mother had been a skilled inventor, creating mechanical trinkets and devices that had built the show more family's wealth. On her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette found her mother's workshop and began to use her own ingenuity and engineering talent to plan for a future in which she could earn enough money to buy back her family's home from her stepmother. I loved that this story was not about going to the ball to marry the prince. Instead, Nicolette's goal was to attend the Cultural Exposition Gala where she could show off her inventions and gain a sponsor for her work.

It just so happens that the plot neatly dovetails with the original story and Nicolette also gets a marriage proposal. And I was especially appreciative that she turned it down because she valued herself as more than just a political pawn or story.

This is the feminist Cinderella I've been waiting for. As much as I love the Cinderella story, my constant complaint is just how damn spineless the main character is in the original story. She meekly accepts her lot in life, accepts the abuse from her father (who was not dead in the Brothers Grimm version) and step-family, and doesn't even speak up for herself in the end while her step-sisters are getting their feet mutilated. And Disney has perpetuated that and reinforced that Cinderella's most important trait was her innate goodness and kindness -- and to add injury to insult, backslid even further with the 2015 movie by having her sit quietly in the attic after getting locked in. Oh, that movie made me SO MAD I practically had cartoon smoke coming out of my ears.

(Give me Danielle from Ever After any day of the week over Disney's doormat of a character. She grabbed a sword and freed herself, dammit!)

So, Mechanica was a breath of fresh air because HELL YES Nicolette saves herself. And not only does she save herself, she uses her intelligence to do so. AND she doesn't take the easy way out and marry the prince, which would have meant she's had lived in the lap of luxury for the rest of her life. No, she turned him down because she would not settle for a marriage that neither of them really wanted.

I'm so looking forward to a sequel because there's so many hints of what's coming next. (Like WAR! With Faerie!) And I'm so utterly in love with the worldbuilding and the characters, I want more. show less

I'm not fond of revenge literature or movies, but when it's women getting revenge I'm a complete sucker. In Reader I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell we get Victorian England's answer to Lisbeth Salander. You know all the jokes about what bad taste in men the Bronte sisters had? Cornwell agrees with them and writes a sequel to Jane Eyre told from the perspective of Adele, Rochester's ward. It's just delicious. I have to admit, due to some complicated events in my life these days, I'm enjoying show more more simplistic fare, and Cornwell is simply - well, what? I don't want to say thrilling, it's not that powerful, but it's a little thrilling, a little titillating, a little like eating a perfect brownie. Just yum. show less