Review 122. Elizabeth C. Bunce – A Curse dark as gold.

Title: A curse dark as gold.
Author: Elizabeth C. Bunce.
Pages: 396.
Published: March 1st 2008.
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books.
Sort: Stand alone.

Charlotte Miller has always scoffed at talk of a curse on her family's woolen mill, which holds her beloved small town together. But after her father's death, the bad luck piles up: departing workers, impossible debts, an overbearing uncle. Then a stranger named Jack Spinner offers a tempting proposition: He can turn straw into gold thread, for the small price of her mother's ring. As Charlotte is drawn deeper into her bargains with Spinner-and a romance with the local banker-she must unravel the truth of the curse on the mill and save the community she's always called home.

Rating: 

This book was close to a DNF. I was really looking forward to read it, since there aren’t so many Rumpelstiltskin retellings. I saw on Goodreads that a lot of people liked it. I might expected too much from the story, but I was so bored!

First Blogoversary!

I know it's a pretty crappy header, but I'm not that good with paint.

Saturday, February 04, 2012 was the exact date I started The Daily Prophecy. My first blog post was a short introduction about myself (This world is but a canvas to our imaginations.) My first review was a fairytale retelling by Cameron Dokey called The wild Orchid. The first meme I participated in was Waiting on Wednesday and I picked Kiersten White – Endlessly. March 27 was my first mailbox and I showcase the first eARC I got: Sarah Cross – Kill me softly. This book was provided by Netgalley and Egmont US.

My first real blogging friend was Viv from Vivaciously Vivian! Definitely head over to her blog if you haven’t heard of her. She is a sweet heart and she writes gorgeous reviews. Other nice bloggers are Riya from The teen book guru, Judith from Paper Riot, Megan from Ink skies, Natalia from Dazzling reads, Jessi from Auntie Spinelli Reads, Kristen from Kristen Evey (my fellow fairytale lover) and Giselle from Xpresso Reads. But don’t forget that you are all awesome bloggers! I appreciate all the comments you leave; they always make me smile. You guys rock.

I’m still happy that I took the step to start The daily prophecy. The blogging community is so kind and it’s great to talk about my great passion: books! I never expected to receive free reviews books and I never heard of (e)ARC’s before. I’m learning new things every day and it’s a great experience. 

Some numbers:
1197 followers.
40.636 pageviews.
122 reviews.

Thank you so much and most of all: on to another year of blogging!

PS: I thought it should be fun to make another post later this week about myself, so if you have any question(s), leave them in the comments!

Showcase Sunday 22. Book Fair edition.

 

Hosted by: Books, biscuits and tea.

I went to a book fair yesterday and I saw so many awesome books. I really had to stop myself, but in the end I still bought a lot of books. I'm so happy with them and I did a great job, because they were so cheap now! And my parents were so sweet, because they paid for four books (L). I really hope that I get the job at a bookstore; if I had more money, I would have bought so much more. I think I had the double amount of books in my basket, haha.

All prices are in euros.

-Robin McKinley - Sunshine. (1.95)

-Juliet Marillier - Complete box: Wolfskin & Foxmask, Dutch edition (6.95)

-Jonathan Mayberry - Dust & Decay. (4.99)

-Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games classic box (14.95)

-Cassandra Clare - Clockwork Prince (4.95)

-Y.S Lee - The Agensy: The traiter in the tunnel (3.95)

-Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer - Between the lines (2.95)

-Melina Marchetta - Finnikin of the Rock (4.95) and Froi of the Exiles (4.95)

-Wendy Delsol - Stork (3.95) and Frost (3.95)

I've heard great thinks about Melina's books and I couldn't get the Dutch copies from Marillier anywhere. I did a happy dance when I got this box :D Another pile of books added to my collection of many unread books. I love them.

Show me your link! :)

Review 121. Robin LaFevers – Grave Mercy.

Title: Grave Mercy.
Author: Robin LaFevers.
Pages: 549.
Published: April 3rd 2012.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Sort: Book 1 of ‘His fair assassin’

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Rating: 

I tried to stay away from fangirling and swooning as much as I could, but Duval *sigh* I adore him! These are the kind of books that make me think: why did I wait so long? This book is filled with awesomeness and I was completely hooked to Ismae’s story. I mean: assassin nuns. I love it!

Review 120. Cameron Jace – Grimm Diaries Prequel 1-6.

Title: The Grimm Diaries Prequel volume 1 – 6
Author: Cameron Jace.
Published: November 19th 2012.
Sort: Prequel to the ‘Grimm dairies’ series.

The Grimm Diaries are pages written in a Book of Sand, where each fairy tale character confessed the true stories once altered by the Brothers Grimm two centuries ago. To keep the truth about fairy tales hidden, the Brothers Grimm buried the characters in their dreams to never wake up again. But the curse is broken now, and the characters are allowed to wake up every one hundred years. They intend to tell the truth about really happened, and about an untold cosmic conflict between fairy tale characters.

Rating: 

This is such a hard ‘book’ to review, I’m still not sure about the rating. I really liked the twist to the stories from the Brothers Grimm. According to this book, the Brothers Grimm altered the true fairytales. The immortal characters from those tales lived among us until there was a cursed placed upon them. They were buried in their own dreams; the Dreamworld. Some of the Immortals broke the curse and they could wake up once every hundred years. The good ones want to tell the truth about their fairytales, the bad ones want to bring wrath on our world. Everything is documented in a Book of Sand, also called the Grimm Diaries. You are now reading part of those diaries.

WoW 29. Coverless 2014 edition.

Hosted by: Breaking the Spine.

This week I decided to return to my fairytales and I picked 3 books from 2014 without a cover to showcase. They sound great to me and I can't wait for the covers.

Title: The glass casket.
Author:McCormick Templeman.
Expected Publication: 2014.
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers.
Pitched as a twisted retelling of Snow White, in which a 16-year-old is left to uncover the evil forces responsible for her cousin’s gruesome murder before they destroy her family, her village, and her whole world.
 
Title: A rose during the winter.
Author: Bianca Inson.
Pages: 450.
Expected Publication: November 18th 2014.
Set in the futuristic world of Rapture, where fairy tales have always existed and are at war with humans. When Rose Grimm is attacked in her home by a dragon, she discovers a frightening ability within her that can create, but also destroy.Exiled from the Human compound, Rose is sent into the unforgiving landscape that is the Dark Seas. Rose is then kidnapped by brothers Echo the Wolf and Fuse the Huntsman, and brought to Maleficent, who believes she is the key to raging war on Humans and Fairy Tale creatures alike. As Rose is thrown deeper into a world she does not understand, anger and fear will unleash a power so dark and destructive that Rapture will fall to it's knee's.

Title: Grim.
Author: Christine Johnson.
Expected Publication: 2014.
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
CLAIRE DE LUNE and NOCTURNE author Christine Johnson, ed.’s GRIM, an anthology of dark fairy tale retellings, featuring stories by New York Times bestselling authors Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Julie Kagawa, and others, to Natashya Wilson at HarlequinTeen, in a nice deal, for publication in Winter 2014, by Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (World).

Let me know what you think and leave a link to your WoW pick!