Alethea Kontis

I listened to the audio book and completely understand why this was nominated for an award. The story is really good, though there's a bit of Chekov's "unfired pistol" near the end, when character abilities established earlier in the novel that seemed likely to be useful in resolving the climax are kind of overlooked. But, just because the story didn't unfold the way it would have unfolded if I'd had the character's powers doesn't mean the ending is unsatisfying. In some ways, while the show more central character has a pretty godlike superpower, the book is constructed so that her real superpower is her family, all of whom are interesting characters with amazing abilities of their own. The fact that this is a series with room to explore all the other family members is quite welcome.

Any quibbles I have with the plot are insignificant when compared to how much I loved the reading on this audio book. If I've ever heard a more perfect match between a narrator and a story, I can't think of it. If I could give six stars, I would! show less

I LOVED this book. So much so that I couldn't put it down. So much so that I must immediately rush out and buy my own copy (read a library copy) so that I can read it again and again.

I love the interplay of elements from so many fairy stories and nursery rhymes, especially several that are less well-known. The chemistry between Sunday and Grumble is wonderful, and there is so much emotion and lightness and joy (and yes, sorrow too) in this book. It brought me to the brink of tears a time or show more two, but mostly it made me smile with a happy glow.

Love this book. Just... Love. *dreamy sigh*
Oh, and slight reality check - the circumstances for which Grumble was cursed are bizarre and disjointed and not satisfactorily explained. ButIdon'tcare. So there. show less

I stayed up way past my bedtime finishing this. It was -- unexpectedly -- really well done. The pretty white girl in a pretty dress on the cover threw me, and I was expecting something very different. Thank you to that random person on Litsy who posted about this series with the note to ignore the covers.

This is a really fun fairy-tale inspired story. There are so many different stories that got referenced in some way in this book, and I loved it all. The plot was also delightful - it show more wasn't a simple straightforward plot, and had some twists and a greater scope that I really enjoyed.

I loved meeting the Woodcutters and look forward to more of their adventures. show less

This was a confusing, nonsensical read. In fact, if this book were a person, I'd probably diagnose it with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Clearly something prion-like was having a great time gnawing away on the characters, the plot, the backstory, entire essential scenes, the world-building...even the writing. (Though I did like the line, "They say that secrets live at the bottom of a wine bottle. Mama had made it there the night before, slow glass by slow glass[...]")

I finished this in hopes of show more finding some clarity. Instead, I got a vaguely sensible conclusion and an Acknowledgments filled with so much name-dropping, I started wondering if the author had written this entire book just so she could publish two pages' worth of cryptic references to Kim Jong-Il, John Scalzi, Orson Scott Card, Andre Norton, Sherrilyn Kenyon (and the boys), fancy editors who accepted her stories in other publications, the people of Cincinnati, and various workshops, writing clubs, contests, and random Starbucks. (All of which, clearly, anyone who is Anyone should know.) show less