retelling – Book Dust Magic

Movie Monday: The School for Good and Evil #MovieMonday #TheSchoolForGoodAndEvil #Netflix

The School for Good and Evil Netflix movie cover

Movie Monday is a feature here on my blog, in which I’m rambling about movies I’ve watched lately.

Today I want to talk about a movie I watched yesterday and was swept away.

The School for Good and Evil

I remember years ago, back when I started to read in English and was religiously watching BookTube videos, The School for Good and Evil book series was pretty popular. It also found it’s place on my tbr, but as time passed I never picked it up and with time it got pushed away by all the other books that were released.
I had no idea Netflix was making an adaptation of the same, but you can imagine my pleasent surprise when I saw it on my homepage (I guess I should keep up with book/movie news more).
As I never read the books, I can’t compare the movie to them, or say if certain things were changed.
However, I can tell you that I really, really liked this motion picture and 2,5 hourst just passed by so quickly, because I was having so much fun.
I guess I needed some fantasy in my life, a magical world that made me daydream how it would be like if those pararel worlds really existed. I caught myself more then a few times daydreaming about crossing that line that parts our world from the different ones we read only in our books.

The cast was very good. Charlize Theron was probably the most noticable, but there are also Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne and Kate Blanchett (who narrates the story).
Young actresses Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie were both amazing in their performance.

This movie is perfect choice for a family movie night, as it is appropriate for younger audience but interesting enough so all generations can enjoy it.
I will admit that I find it to be better than I expected and I highly, highly recommend it.

Gothic and spooky: What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (Book Review) #Horror #Halloween #Retelling

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher book cover

Today I am happy to bring you my review for a horror I read recently and enjoyed very much. It is perfect Halloween read in my opinion.

What Moves the Dead was published on July 12th 2022 by Tor Nightfire and it has 165 pages. I read my own copy of the book.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

What Moves the Dead is Kingfisher’s retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

Review:

I am going to start this review by fangirling about this cover. Do you see how amazing it is?? Beautiful, hypnotic and creepy at the same time!
Honestly, this is my favourite book cover that I have seen in years, and now when I finished the story, I understand it and appreciate it even more!

What Moves the Dead is a retelling of a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. Which one? I don’t really know. Obviously I didn’t do my research very well, but to me it doesn’t make much difference because the only short story that have read by E.A.P. is Black Cat (In the meantime I learned that the story is called The Fall of the House of Ushers).

But what I did notice is how similar this novel is to Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
They both start with a letter about one sick character where the main character comes to visit, they both have big spooky house, gothic atmosphere, and also… one big thing that plays big part in both stories. Plus, they are both horrors.
Of course, me being bad at doing proper research, I don’t know if they are both retelling of the same classic story.
Still, it is worth mentioning that T. Kingfisher admitted similarities between her and Moreno-Garcia’s novel in her author’s note.

What Moves the Dead has non binary main character, which I appreciate.

The book is set some time in the past, and it is set in the world that is similar to ours (London, Paris and America are there) but it also has some imaginary places that don’t exist in our world, and also cultures that I’ve never heard about.

It is written in first person, from Alex‘ POV, but as the narrator sometimes talks to us readers, at times it feels like it was written in second person.

The gothic, dark and wet atmosphere was my favourite part.
Also, I appreciate how short this novel is. It takes a skill to write something that isn’t too long, but says so much.

This was a buddy read with Amanda and we both liked it.
We both also agree that we didn’t fan over big revelation of what caused all this mess, as it made little sense to our contemporary oriented brains.

However, I still very much recommend this book and I will definitely check other work by T. Kingfisher.

A retelling worth of attention: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Book Review) #Blogtober #Retelling #Halloween @PRHGlobal

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I want to talk about a book I read back in August. I loved this author’s novel Mexican Gothic so I was excited to be invited to read and review The Daughter of Doctor Moreau.
This book was published on July 19th 2022 by Del Rey and it has 306 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

A lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.

Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.

Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.

The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.

All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.

For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.

Review:

Right after I finished The Daughter of Doctor Moreau my thoughts were a mess and I honestly didn’t know how I felt about the story in whole.
I knew I liked Mexican Gothic better than this one, but also those two stories are totally different that it would be unfair to compare them.

Once again, Silvia Moreno-Garcia managed to give the atmosphere a role itself, and the place of the story was unique, well described and easy to imagine.

This historical retelling was told in third person following two perspectives: Carlota’s, who is the daughter of the doctor, and Laughton’s who is an employee.
Getting into Laughton’s head was more interesting to me, especially because of his battle with his own demons that made him take the job in this peculiar place.

The only thing that didn’t make much sense to me was the motivation to keep up with the project.
At first it was to have free labour from creatures who wouldn’t have human rights (now when the slavery was illegal), but when experiment after experiment failed, one had to wonder why waste all that money on laboratories when it can be used to decently pay people for their work instead?

Overall, this was a good book with some action packed scenes and historical references.
I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Another retelling, but it’s a horror: Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood #BookReview #BookBloggers #Horror @WednesdayBooks

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Bčackwood book cover US edition

GIFTED / I really enjoy retellings so I always look forward to discover new ones, especially if the retelling is witten in genre different then the original story, like it was the case with Within These Wicked Walls, where the author managed to make horror out of the love story (but if you ask me, Jane Eyre is kind of horror-ish).

This book will be published tomorrow, on October 19th and it has 336 pages. I received a copy via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. I want to say Thank You to St. Martin Press, Wednesday Books.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / What the heart desires, the house destroys…

Kiersten White meets Tomi Adeyemi in this Ethiopian-inspired debut fantasy retelling of Jane Eyre.

Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.

Review:

Action packed from the very beginning, and I love it!

I picked Within These Wicked Walls by accident, misplacing it for another ya horror that was coming out this year.
However, I am not sorry because I was in a mood for horror, and horror I got.

I like how the story opened with an action and I was pulled into it so very easily.
I don’t know if this book is in ya category as the main character Andri is 19 years old, but to me it definitely read as ya horror.

The setting was little hard for me to understand, and I am honestly considering rereading this whole novel to understand it better, plus I do believe that I would appreciate the story more if I give it another go.
What also confused me was how this read as fantasy but then book classics would be mentioned and at times I had feeling I was reading historical fiction with fantasy/horror elements…

This supposed to be Jane Eyre retelling, and although I can see little similarity in setting (big castle) and ghost who maybe was it’s version of captured wife from the Jane Eyre, I can’t agree that this is retelling.
I personally saw more similarities with Beauty and the Beast.

I loved characters and the main plot, including all the horror elements and action scenes, but I didn’t like the love story.
I didn’t feel the chemistry between Andri and Magnus, and it all felt all of a sudden. To be honest, I’d prefer if the story was without it.

All in all, good, fast paced story, perfect choice to read in October.

Gender swap retelling of Beauty and the Beast: Curses by Lish McBride #bookreview @PRHGlobal #partner #retelling

Curses by Lish McBride book cover US edition 2021

GIFTED / It has been months since my last post, but while I have been gone I have written some reviews, and today I bring you one of them.

Curses by Lish McBride reminded me how much I love Beauty and the Beast and how I enjoy it’s retellings. It’s like I can’t get enough of them.

This book was published on 20th July 2021 and it has 480 pages. I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling’s curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother’s choosing before her eighteenth birthday.

Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family’s cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom.

Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother’s debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

Review:

I don’t know if my brain is in post-covid or what, but when I first started reading Curses I was sure it had 280 pages. In fact, that is the reason why I picked it up in the first place. I wanted a short book that I would finish quickly.
However, as I was reading, the story went on and on and on… (I read it on kindle) and after I finally finished it it said it has 480 pages, which makes much more sense, as it dragged.

The story is gender swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with cast of characters that have potential to capture your heart.

I can’t honestly remember when was the ast time I read about characters I can see myself wanting to revisit, because I find them so likeable and like I know them in a way.
It was probably years ago, back when I was reading Vampire Academy, Iron Fay and Clockwork Angel for the first time.

My favourites were Tavin and his cousin (Val I think, but don’t quote me on that, I am terrible when it comes to remembering the names).

The story started off good and I was very excited, very invested into all that was happening, especially in all the characters making connections with each other.
There was a scene involving Tavin and one other female character that was NOT Merit, and their chemistry was so strong you could cut it with a knife. I wished for them two to be with each other, but I guess the author had another plan…

Closer to the middle the story started to drag and I lost the motivation to continue with reading (with pace I read with at the very start), and then as we got closer to the end, the story became little… ridiculous I would say.
At times it felt rushed, and the motive and the way the villain wanted to reach their goal were illogical to me.

The one that gets darker with every page: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (Book Review) @PRHGlobal #partner #Fantasy

GIFTED / I am so happy to bring you my review for the book that blew my mind with it’s originality.
The House of Salt and Sorrows was published on August 6th 2019 by Delacorte Press and it has 416 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

Review:

House of Salt and Sorrows is a hot topic ever since it came out, and it was hyped for months before it’s release.
I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to read it via Netgalley and I can tell you, I completely understand where the hype comes from.

This story really impressed me and even though it is a retelling of a tale of Twelve Dancing Princesses I would say it is one of the most unique books that I have read in the past few months. However, I have to stress out that I am not familiar with the original fairy tale nor did I watch the Barbie movie.

The atmosphere was spooky and I loved it so much. I like how the story became darker and darker as it progressed, that closer to the end it even had some horror elements.
The atmosphere was my favorite part of the novel.

What I found funny was how at some points Highmoor people gave me that Greyjoy vibes (Game of Thrones reference), and it almost felt like they were cousins (their funeral rituals are so similar that I couldn’t help myself but laugh, but in a good way).

The main character Annaleigh was likeable and it was easy to connect with her. I enjoyed following the story from her perspective and I also really liked her relationship with her older sister Camilla.
I was also fascinated with their stepmother and wanted to know more about her.
As for other characters, I have to admit that I wish they had more substance to them, because they felt pretty much dull and I had hard time to recognize one sister from the other.

One of the big reveals (how they went to the dances) blew my mind and in my opinion, it was the best part of the story.

I was also very happy with the way this story ended, including all the dark and spooky elements.

I really enjoyed reading House of Salt and Sorrows and I would like to read other work by Erin A. Craig.

I highly recommend this one to lovers of young adult fantasy and spooky stories.

Book Review: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White @PHRGlobal #partner #BookReview

Title: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press, Penguin

Date: September 25th, 2018

Pages: 304

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Elizabeth Lavenza hasn’t had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her “caregiver,” and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything–except a friend.

Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable–and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.

But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth’s survival depends on managing Victor’s dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.

Review:

I think The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein was my most anticipated book of the year, when it comes to ya titles.
I do have to admit that I lack when it comes to that genre this year. I feel like so many books came out and after my blogging/reviewing slump that started last year and lasted until August this year, all I try to do is catch up, by trying to see/read what was popular and what still have to come out, I feel kinda lost. The struggle is real!

Reading this novel was a relaxing pleasure for me. This time I didn’t go blind into the book (I know, shocking!) and I liked it that way.
I have already watched/read other reviews so I kinda knew what to expect, but that didn’t ruin my reading experience. If anything, it made it even better.
Why?
Because I already expected a slow plot developing so it didn’t bother me.

The other reason why I wasn’t bored by the slow plot is that I knew this is a retelling of a classic, and most classics that I’ve read were pretty slow when it comes to plot developing and pace.

Character wise, this book was excellent.
Elizabeth was an amazing protagonist and I enjoyed reading her POV. I loved how everything she did was based on her purpose to survive in the best conditions possible.
I also liked side characters, but also Victor, who was likeable and mysterious.

The whole time I was reading I felt like the author was hiding something from readers, something important.
I didn’t understand why Elizabeth and Victor were connected on such a strong level, and I loved the feeling of the hidden mystery, of the atmosphere it created.

The writing style was great. This book reminded me how much I loved White’s writing in Paranormalcy.

Also, I chose the perfect time to read this book. Now when everything is in Halloween decorations and spooky books/movies are desirable, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein came as the best option.

I would recommend this novel to lovers of retellings, spooky books and young adult genre.