Bild på författaren.

Josephine Angelini

Författare till Helena

23 verk 4,024 medlemmar 248 recensioner 6 favoritmärkta

Om författaren

Josephine Angelini is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in theater, with a focus on the classics. She is the author of the Starcrossed series and the Worldwalker Trilogy. (Bowker Author Biography)
Foto taget av: By Lesekreis - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25194137

Serier

Verk av Josephine Angelini

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
1975
Kön
female
Nationalitet
USA
Agent
Mollie Glick

Medlemmar

Recensioner

With a hint of The Princess Bride (just a speck), this tale embraces virtuous goodness around a princess, who wants nothing more than to end her ridiculous fairy tale and make it back home to the modern world.

Holly was tricked and finds herself stuck in a tower in a book with one way out: get a real person to kiss her. Not another character in the book. If that wasn't hard enough (who goes around kissing books while thinking of a character...and not even the main one?), she's been thrust into the last pages of the tale, where the world has fallen apart thanks to the hero's demise. Nobody wants to read a story where the villain rules and destroys everything, and all 'real' readers stop forty pages before they even get to her unnecessary scenes. But there's not much she can do about it even if time's running out. She's had one year to accomplish the impossible and soon, will be stuck in the misery forever. Well, if she could survive that long. The world is deadly, and she's already been pushing luck to make it as long as she has.

While this read starts out a bit jumbled, it soon glides into an increasingly grabbing tale. And I'm pretty sure it was purposefully done this way. It's written from Holly's (aka Princess Pleasant) perspective in first person. The reader meets her (literally, since she does talk directly to the reader every now and then) as the year's deadline nears the end, and she's pretty much given up. She's lost, and that's exactly how the writing comes across—stumbly, unsure, and a little confused. With an unexpected twist of hope, the flow of the story and writing switches right along with her situation. Soon, it's an increasingly grabbing tale with unexpected moments, fun characters, slightly quirky situations, and a heroine to truly root for.

This read takes on a unique direction, while holding several cliches to add humorous moments. It's playful yet dangerous, wholesome yet sneaks in a dash of subtle risque. While reading, I considered suggesting this one to upper middle grade readers but stuffed that idea away thanks to a dusting of innuendos (subtle and light but...nope.) It's a solid YA read—fun, light-hearted adventure with virtues to delight and make a maiden sigh, while snort-worthy and modern snark adds needed bite.; The mix is refreshing.

It's a short read, which still manages to pack in quite a few characters and predicaments. While most characters don't gain much depth, they carry quirky goodness to make up for it. Considering these are storybook figures, that works surprisingly well. Holly, of course, is the depth and carries the character-arc to hold the read. The lower page number also means there are several loose ends, but for the most part, this isn't an issue, since it fits to the way the author has created the world. Backstories are also missing, which again, makes sense...mostly. I do wish there'd been a bit more surrounding Holly and the book because that aspect left a gapping hole, which didn't sit right. Still, the tale and Holly grabbed, making it hard to put this book down and fun to read.

It appears book two will hit a new story with a new character or two (?), which I may or may not pick up (I hate switching characters). I believe fans of fantasy, who enjoy a pinch of modern snark and tons of subtle silliness, might enjoy taking a peek at it. I received a DRC through Edelweiss, am giving this 4.5 stars and rounding up.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
tdrecker | Feb 12, 2024 |
Excellent first-person narration -- Annie's voice is so specific and believable even though Annie as a character is extraordinary (she's intellectually gifted, she's a neglected and abused child, she is stunningly naive and optimistic, she's dyslexic, she is funny and likable). With the right narrator, this could be an outstanding audiobook. Annie leapt off the page for me.

Annie is the youngest of nine children in a big Catholic family in the 1980s (the Challenger disaster happens with Annie's 5th grade class watching live). As I said, there are very serious and distressing themes of abuse and neglect in this book. Annie's family is near poverty and her parents are there-but-not-there. This looks and feels like middle grade book, but I think it would be best for the more tween/mature end of the middle grade spectrum.

Here's a favorite passage of mine:

"I'm going to find my destiny, and then it will all make sense because even when you're scared, having a destiny means you're going to be okay, because people with destinies don't just shit (fifteen Hail Marys) the bed. I'm not supposed to swear even in my own head, but sometimes you need a word with a little more oomph in it than a regular word, so a swear word is the only thing that will work. This is a swear-word moment. This is the moment I'm going to find my destiny."

In some ways, this reminded me of Shannon Hale's [b:Real Friends|31145178|Real Friends|Shannon Hale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503615816s/31145178.jpg|51774817] because there's a terribly bully sister and religious themes. But unlike young Shannon, young Annie has great friends. It's the saving grace of the story, I think.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
LibrarianDest | 5 andra recensioner | Jan 3, 2024 |
Starcrossed: Review I love anything about greek mythology and this book is no different. This world building off the bat was mostly strong their are still some aspects of how people become demi gods that confused but  i am hoping my confusion will be cleared up in the next two novels. 
 
I really liked learning about helen and the demi god world from Lucas and how it seemed their relationships is already fraught with peril. i liked how the author really kept helena family in the loop even though the father was not directly part of this world. It makes me curious to find out who here father is now that we know she is no related to Lucas. I think that is may bring a lot of harm this these two characters and can't wait to see the fall out once the truth is out in the open.
 
I really fell hard for the character of lucas and hope that he gets to find his happy ending so way so how. 
 
Check out my video review below!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLS5SbXAqb8
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
lmauro123 | 132 andra recensioner | Dec 28, 2023 |
Starcrossed: Review I love anything about greek mythology and this book is no different. This world building off the bat was mostly strong their are still some aspects of how people become demi gods that confused but  i am hoping my confusion will be cleared up in the next two novels. 
 
I really liked learning about helen and the demi god world from Lucas and how it seemed their relationships is already fraught with peril. i liked how the author really kept helena family in the loop even though the father was not directly part of this world. It makes me curious to find out who here father is now that we know she is no related to Lucas. I think that is may bring a lot of harm this these two characters and can't wait to see the fall out once the truth is out in the open.
 
I really fell hard for the character of lucas and hope that he gets to find his happy ending so way so how. 
 
Check out my video review below!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLS5SbXAqb8
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
lmauro123 | 132 andra recensioner | Dec 28, 2023 |

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Statistik

Verk
23
Medlemmar
4,024
Popularitet
#6,265
Betyg
4.0
Recensioner
248
ISBN
152
Språk
10
Favoritmärkt
6

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