ARC Review: Wednesdays in the Tower

Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
4/5 stars
Bloomsbury Children's, 2013
233 pages
Middle Grade Fantasy
Scheduled to release May 7

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After being absolutely enchanted by Tuesdays at the Castle, I was thrilled to see that a sequel would be released. I was eager to return to the world of Castle Glower and to hang out with Celie as she chronicled its ever-changing halls and rooms. This second book promised more delights!

We are dropped back into the castle, where life seems to have settled down after the tumult of the events of the first book. But Castle Glower cannot remain quiet for long with Celie's life being shaken up by the hatching of a griffin, a species long thought extinct, who Celie must keep hidden amidst the ever-changing rooms of the castle and its population.

I thought this book was such a cute fun fast read; it was one I picked up during my recent personal readathon and just flew through. Celie is as tough as ever, bearing up well under difficult circumstances. My hope for this sequel was that the parents and rest of the family would be around, which came true. As I predicted, Celie is still able to get up to plenty of mischief even as her parents evince an interest in what she is hiding.

Something else I loved was the mythology around the griffin. They have mysterious origins and it is uncertain if they will continue to survive as there seems to be only this one. Who knows about the history of griffins? Why is there such a paucity of information? Is someone trying to stop Celie and her family from learning more? These are some of the questions teased and it seems that there should be a third book to further explore.

Still while I had fun reading this, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as its predecessor just because it seemed to be continuing in the same vein instead of adding and deepening the world introduced. I loved our first glimpse at Castle Glower but I needed more from this book to really fall in love.

Other Opinions:
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Good Books and Good Wine
Karissa's Reading Review

Tuesdays at the Castle

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2011
232 pages
Middle-Grade; Fairy Tale
4/5 stars

Source: Received an ARC through Amazon's Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

I've enjoyed previous Jessica Day George books so I felt confident requesting this book and I was right! This is a fun book with a great heroine and lots of magical happenings. It is set in the Land of Sleyne inside the Castle Glower, under the reign of King Glower the Seventy-Ninth and a magical castle that changes at will and seems to possess its own mind about how thing should be.

The current King Glower and his wife have four children. The youngest is Celie, aged 11, and she is the main character with a special affinity for the castle. She is delightful with a deep love for the castle. Unfortunately tragedy soon strikes. While her parents and eldest brother are away from home, they are ambushed and declared dead, leaving the other three children to defend Castle Glower from rapacious foreign princes.

Celie and her siblings Lilah and Rolf rise to the occasion, using every trick and aid of the castle to oust the invaders, with many amusing instances. There are also their loyal friends and the villainous Kletch, who made me think of a Gail Carson Levine character; high praise indeed! Although not everyone is well-developed, they served their purpose and I hope all of the good characters will return for more adventures around the magnificent Castle Glower.

SPOILERS:
I was pretty sure the parents were not dead because what a brutal book this would have been! I hope sequels come with more about the parents. It looks as if Celie could get into plenty of mischief with or without her parents around to supervise or interfere.
I was a bit disappointed with the ending. The castle seems to be dead, or perhaps just sleeping, until it all of a sudden comes back; not sure if it's Celie's profession of belief or the danger she is in that brings the castle back to life but it was a little too easy for me. Not too big of a deal.
END SPOILERS

Overall: A delightful journey through an amazing setting with sweet characters; excited about future books!

Princess of Glass

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury, 2010
257 pages
YA; Fairy Tale
4/5 stars

Companion to Princess of the Midnight Ball, (based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses) which I read pre-blog.

Source: Library

Thoughts: I love retold fairy tales, especially Cinderella stories plus I enjoyed the first book so I knew I'd be reading this at some point.  The big twist on this story is that we see the Cinderella story from the outside.  Poppy is a visiting princess and the Cinderella is Ellen, a servant who used to be noble but has been reduced in circumstances.  Her godmother has promised her marriage to a prince.

Now that prince is Prince Christian who was interested in Poppy until the enchantment around Ellen, or rather Lady Ella, draws him in and distracts his attention.  Additionally she draws the ire of most of the women because she entices most of the men.  It's up to Poppy to save them due to her experience with magical enchantments.

Final conflict=lame.  The villain brings almost everyone together in a conflict that is so short; it felt really anticlimactic.  I wanted a bigger battle with higher stakes and I didn't get it.

I also wish that I remembered more of the previous book because I remember it having a strong emphasis on the sister relationship which is referenced in Poppy missing her sisters but obviously can't be represented as well here.

Overall: I was wavering between 3.5 and 4 but then I thought about how much I loved Poppy, an independent funny character and thus I gave it a boost.

Cover: Gorgeous dress and it connects to the first book without being a copy.