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bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
My feelings about these books are still tepid. They have most of the elements I look for in a book, but there's something lacking, and I can't quite put my finger on it. More complete review to come.
Full review:
Something confuses me about the Woodcutter books. They have so many elements that I love, and yet there's something flat about both of them that prevents me from really falling in love with them. I felt that sensation after I read Enchanted, but I wanted to give this one a chance because I was curious about how Saturday's story would play out. Unfortunately, it left me with the same lukewarm feeling as its predecessor. Some spoilers to follow.
Sometimes while reading Enchanted, I found myself confused about what was going on. A part of me thinks this is because that book was such a mash-up of fairy tales that, while well done in many respects, it gave the book a lack of cohesiveness. The same stands true for this book. It's sometimes hard to see where the story is going. It's as if a bunch of random elements have been thrown together, mixed up, and touched upon at various points throughout the book. The end result is a book that makes me feel as if it meanders. There is a main plot thrust to this story, but the book takes a bit of time getting there. There's also an ending, but there are multiple questions left answered that made me wonder what the main point of the series is. I'm a big gamer, and these books feel like so many side quests without a main quest whose completion signals an ending to the story.
The characters are interesting, but I'm not sure I ever really connect with any of them. There's a wide variety here, and while that's fun, it makes me feel as though I don't get to know anyone deeply enough, which is particularly strange when I'm finished with not just one, but two books in this series. I like Saturday a lot and am happy to see such an unconventional heroine. She's not especially beautiful, she's not a dainty, fainting thing, and she wants more than anything to be an adventurer. Yet as much as I liked her and sometimes rooted for her, I always felt detached, like I was watching him from too much of a distance.
Peregrine was harder for me to decipher. I didn't really either like or dislike him, which isn't really a good thing. The best I can say about him was he was okay. I did like that he took Saturday seriously in the end, though this wasn't necessarily the case in the beginning. He had kind of a strange sense of honor, and his little foray at the end of the book felt so unnecessary to me, like the book was being stretched out for no reason except to set up yet another side plot. It wasn't that the plot doesn't make sense given Peregrine's background, but it would have been better had it not felt so suddenly outside of the central events in the story. It was like the reader had to take a timeout from what seemed like the main plot to follow Peregrine on a short quest without resolution.
The love stories in these books are a source of special disappointment to me. Both of them say the right things and seem like they should be sweet, swoony romances, but neither of them are for me. Both books have a tendency toward instalove, and while there is some building of the relationship between the main character and her love interest, it's a given that they'll be together because their love has already been preordained. This setup doesn't appeal to me. To me, "true love" requires time to build. I don't object to the characters finding one another attractive or appealing, but it takes all the tension out of the romance when it's so blatantly obvious that they'll be together. I got what Peregrine saw in Saturday, but I didn't get a good sense of what Saturday saw in Peregrine. He's not objectionable, but given Saturday's reticence when it comes to all things romantic, it seems odd that she falls for him with no real reason to fall for him, other than that he's nice to her.
As enjoyable as the quirky characters and fresh takes on fairy tales are in these books, I don't think I'll read the next. I'm too disappointed in the lack of connection I felt with the story.
Full review:
Something confuses me about the Woodcutter books. They have so many elements that I love, and yet there's something flat about both of them that prevents me from really falling in love with them. I felt that sensation after I read Enchanted, but I wanted to give this one a chance because I was curious about how Saturday's story would play out. Unfortunately, it left me with the same lukewarm feeling as its predecessor. Some spoilers to follow.
Sometimes while reading Enchanted, I found myself confused about what was going on. A part of me thinks this is because that book was such a mash-up of fairy tales that, while well done in many respects, it gave the book a lack of cohesiveness. The same stands true for this book. It's sometimes hard to see where the story is going. It's as if a bunch of random elements have been thrown together, mixed up, and touched upon at various points throughout the book. The end result is a book that makes me feel as if it meanders. There is a main plot thrust to this story, but the book takes a bit of time getting there. There's also an ending, but there are multiple questions left answered that made me wonder what the main point of the series is. I'm a big gamer, and these books feel like so many side quests without a main quest whose completion signals an ending to the story.
The characters are interesting, but I'm not sure I ever really connect with any of them. There's a wide variety here, and while that's fun, it makes me feel as though I don't get to know anyone deeply enough, which is particularly strange when I'm finished with not just one, but two books in this series. I like Saturday a lot and am happy to see such an unconventional heroine. She's not especially beautiful, she's not a dainty, fainting thing, and she wants more than anything to be an adventurer. Yet as much as I liked her and sometimes rooted for her, I always felt detached, like I was watching him from too much of a distance.
Peregrine was harder for me to decipher. I didn't really either like or dislike him, which isn't really a good thing. The best I can say about him was he was okay. I did like that he took Saturday seriously in the end, though this wasn't necessarily the case in the beginning. He had kind of a strange sense of honor, and his little foray at the end of the book felt so unnecessary to me, like the book was being stretched out for no reason except to set up yet another side plot. It wasn't that the plot doesn't make sense given Peregrine's background, but it would have been better had it not felt so suddenly outside of the central events in the story. It was like the reader had to take a timeout from what seemed like the main plot to follow Peregrine on a short quest without resolution.
The love stories in these books are a source of special disappointment to me. Both of them say the right things and seem like they should be sweet, swoony romances, but neither of them are for me. Both books have a tendency toward instalove, and while there is some building of the relationship between the main character and her love interest, it's a given that they'll be together because their love has already been preordained. This setup doesn't appeal to me. To me, "true love" requires time to build. I don't object to the characters finding one another attractive or appealing, but it takes all the tension out of the romance when it's so blatantly obvious that they'll be together. I got what Peregrine saw in Saturday, but I didn't get a good sense of what Saturday saw in Peregrine. He's not objectionable, but given Saturday's reticence when it comes to all things romantic, it seems odd that she falls for him with no real reason to fall for him, other than that he's nice to her.
As enjoyable as the quirky characters and fresh takes on fairy tales are in these books, I don't think I'll read the next. I'm too disappointed in the lack of connection I felt with the story.
kebreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a nice sequel to Enchanted. Once again, a fabulously written book. I didn't like this one quite as much as Enchanted, for a few reasons. One, I identify more with Sunday than with Saturday. I'm sure there are others who identify better with Saturday than Sunday. Second, because of who Saturday is, there was more swearing and violence than in the first book. Third, the ending is more open-ended than the first one was. Luckily, I know there is a third book coming out in the series (Yay!). There are some things I really loved about this book. One was the cool rooms at the top of the world. Another was the relationships between the Woodcutters. Third was the motley crew from the top of the world: Peregrine, Saturday, and Betwixt. I probably won't reread this one as often as Enchanted, but I'll still likely reread it at some point.
Content: around 15 swear words, some violence, an instance of nudity
Content: around 15 swear words, some violence, an instance of nudity
natwc's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book in a different way to the first book. It's not as lovey dovey as Enchanted but it does have playing-hard-to-get romance and action packed in. It was funny and cute reading how Saturday wanted to keep denying that she was in love while Sunday was the complete opposite. I can't imagine who will fall in love with the next sister, who I'm assuming will be Friday.
ladytiara's review against another edition
4.0
Hero is the follow-up to Enchanted by Alethea Kontis. The first book was a loose retelling of the Frog Prince and featured a heroine named Sunday Woodcutter. I enjoyed Enchanted, but Hero impressed me much more.
This time around, we get the story of Sunday's sister Saturday. She sets off on a journey with her family only to end up kidnapped and taken to a witch's lair on the top of a remote mountain. There she meets a captive young nobleman named Peregrine, and together, they have to figure out a way to defeat the witch and save the world.
Saturday is a fantastic heroine. She's a bit of an outsider as the only one in her family without magic. She's very no nonsense. She wants adventure and she's not interested in romance getting in the way. Peregrine is equally entertaining. He has suffered a horrible fate, but he's managed to find a way to survive. His relationship with a chimera named Betwixt is very amusing.
This book isn't a retelling of a specific fairytale (at least not one that I'm familiar with), but it brings in elements of many different tales (there's some Snow White and some Hansel and Gretel) and many typical fairytale tropes (a heroic quest, dragons, enchanted princes) and subverts them. The typical fairytale gender roles are turned upside down, which was one of my favorites elements of the book.
We see many members of the Woodcutter family, and they never fail to entertain. Saturday is definitely my favorite (she's more interesting than Sunday), but her sister the pirate queen Thursday seems worthy of her own book. The missing Jack plays an important role, and he turns out to be the sort of brother you'd be torn between hugging or strangling.
If you're a fan of fairytale retellings, I highly recommend Hero (and please start with Enchanted if you haven't already read it). I'm looking forward to more books in this series.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
This time around, we get the story of Sunday's sister Saturday. She sets off on a journey with her family only to end up kidnapped and taken to a witch's lair on the top of a remote mountain. There she meets a captive young nobleman named Peregrine, and together, they have to figure out a way to defeat the witch and save the world.
Saturday is a fantastic heroine. She's a bit of an outsider as the only one in her family without magic. She's very no nonsense. She wants adventure and she's not interested in romance getting in the way. Peregrine is equally entertaining. He has suffered a horrible fate, but he's managed to find a way to survive. His relationship with a chimera named Betwixt is very amusing.
This book isn't a retelling of a specific fairytale (at least not one that I'm familiar with), but it brings in elements of many different tales (there's some Snow White and some Hansel and Gretel) and many typical fairytale tropes (a heroic quest, dragons, enchanted princes) and subverts them. The typical fairytale gender roles are turned upside down, which was one of my favorites elements of the book.
We see many members of the Woodcutter family, and they never fail to entertain. Saturday is definitely my favorite (she's more interesting than Sunday), but her sister the pirate queen Thursday seems worthy of her own book. The missing Jack plays an important role, and he turns out to be the sort of brother you'd be torn between hugging or strangling.
If you're a fan of fairytale retellings, I highly recommend Hero (and please start with Enchanted if you haven't already read it). I'm looking forward to more books in this series.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
chemwitch's review against another edition
2.0
Same as the first. Entertaining, but not that great. Same old insta-love. Felt like there were a lot of plot threads that went nowhere. On the bright side, I enjoyed the characters more in this one than the last.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
3.0
Zwischen Hero und mir hat’s nicht richtig gefunkt, was an folgenden Gründen gelegen haben könnte:
1. Falsches Timing.
2. Ich habe den ersten Teil Enchanted nicht gelesen. Auf dem Cover wird damit geworben, dass Hero ein Companion ist, also müsste man die Bücher ja theoretisch unabhängig voneinander lesen können. Davon abgesehen, dass man in Hero das Ende von Enchanted verraten bekommt, vermute ich auch, dass das stimmt. Wenn man Enchanted allerdings schon kennt, steigt man sicher schneller bei Hauptfigur Saturday und ihrer Familie durch.
3. Der Schreibstil. Der ist auf keinen Fall schlecht. Eigentlich macht Alethea Kontis es genau richtig und schmeißt den Leser ins eiskalte Wasser. Es gibt keine lästigen Infodumps oder ellenlange Einleitungserklärungen. Man taucht einfach ein in die Geschichte und muss sich unterwegs selbst ein Bild zusammenpuzzeln. Das ist überhaupt nicht verwerflich und viel besser als oben erwähnte Methoden, aber es kann so anstrengend sein.
4. Der Plot ist zu simpel. Das Buch ist kurz und leicht und irgendwie ganz schnell vorbei und dann war es das. Aus den Augen aus dem Sinn.
Was mir trotz des unspektakulären Leseerlebnisses gefallen hat, waren die fantasievollen Märchenelemente und der spielerische Umgang mit Geschlechterrollen.
Vielleicht funkt es ja ein andernmal zwischen mir und einem Buch aus Alethea Kontis’ Woodcutter Sisters Reihe.
1. Falsches Timing.
2. Ich habe den ersten Teil Enchanted nicht gelesen. Auf dem Cover wird damit geworben, dass Hero ein Companion ist, also müsste man die Bücher ja theoretisch unabhängig voneinander lesen können. Davon abgesehen, dass man in Hero das Ende von Enchanted verraten bekommt, vermute ich auch, dass das stimmt. Wenn man Enchanted allerdings schon kennt, steigt man sicher schneller bei Hauptfigur Saturday und ihrer Familie durch.
3. Der Schreibstil. Der ist auf keinen Fall schlecht. Eigentlich macht Alethea Kontis es genau richtig und schmeißt den Leser ins eiskalte Wasser. Es gibt keine lästigen Infodumps oder ellenlange Einleitungserklärungen. Man taucht einfach ein in die Geschichte und muss sich unterwegs selbst ein Bild zusammenpuzzeln. Das ist überhaupt nicht verwerflich und viel besser als oben erwähnte Methoden, aber es kann so anstrengend sein.
4. Der Plot ist zu simpel. Das Buch ist kurz und leicht und irgendwie ganz schnell vorbei und dann war es das. Aus den Augen aus dem Sinn.
Was mir trotz des unspektakulären Leseerlebnisses gefallen hat, waren die fantasievollen Märchenelemente und der spielerische Umgang mit Geschlechterrollen.
Vielleicht funkt es ja ein andernmal zwischen mir und einem Buch aus Alethea Kontis’ Woodcutter Sisters Reihe.
justicepirate's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the second half of this book. I will say that the most annoying thing about this story is that she would end a chapter without describing things that went on, that I think would have been vital to the story. The next chapter would start and you'd have to assume what happened, because it was not explained that important things wen ton in the space between the chapters. Suddenly "this" is just known to have happened. What good is a story when you leave the details out?
Saturday is the sister who didn't get the best name day gift. She has an item that changes over time to different things. Each of those things lead to a new destiny of sorts. Her other sisters have some cool magical gifts. Right now she has a sword, so all she does is practice with it to see what its use is for.
Peregrine is stuck in a mountain top cave area and is thought to be the daughter of a witch that can't see too well. He is actually a really interesting character that I enjoyed learning about. If it were not for him, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much.
Saturday is the sister who didn't get the best name day gift. She has an item that changes over time to different things. Each of those things lead to a new destiny of sorts. Her other sisters have some cool magical gifts. Right now she has a sword, so all she does is practice with it to see what its use is for.
Peregrine is stuck in a mountain top cave area and is thought to be the daughter of a witch that can't see too well. He is actually a really interesting character that I enjoyed learning about. If it were not for him, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much.
katetj's review against another edition
5.0
I'm so excited for this book! Enchanted was amazing and so much fun! I can't wait to read about Saturday and her story, I'm sure it will be equally amazing and fun!
laughlinesandliterature's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but I'm really not sure I'm going to continue with this series. This was definitely the weakest, and it feels like its kind of half-hearted attempts. I really loved the first book, but this one just fell flat for me. It felt like it moved too quickly and was more of a set up for the various different stories which I think did a disservice to Saturday. She had an interesting story there, and instead she falls in love with some guy who has been having creepy dreams about her and suddenly they love each other 2 chapters later. It just didn't ring true to me. 3 out of 5 stars.
ketchikrista's review against another edition
4.0
I was overjoyed that I loved this one more than the first one. Saturday charmed me and Peregrine was precious.