Seeing Red

Title:  Seeing Red

Author:  Sarah Mlynowski

Series:  Whatever After #12

Publisher:  Scholastic Press

Date Published:  October 30, 2018

Genre:  Middle Grade, Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-    I read this aloud to Gnome. We enjoy reading this series together. 

-    Abby and Jonah's Nana is visiting them. Their Nana loves telling them fairy tales for bedtime stories. When Abby gets invited to a sleepover, Nana says she can't go because she wants to spend time with family. Abby is upset and tries to get around the situation by going through the magic mirror. Of course it doesn't work, and Abby and Jonah end up in Little Red Riding Hood's story. 

-    I always love the twists Mlynowski comes up with. They are so clever and improve the original stories by making them more modern and forward thinking.

-    There aren't a lot of stories about grandkids and their relationship with their grandparents, so I really liked that aspect in this book.

-    I don't know if I'd enjoy these books as much if I read them myself. They are definitely too young for me, but they are perfect read-a-loud books. TBH, Gnome is probably outgrowing these books as well, but we still love reading them. 

My Thoughts in a GIF:

Previous Books in the Series: 

    
    

    

(Covers are linked)

p.s. I could not figure out how to fix the spacing issue on the last three book covers. If you have a solution, please let me know.

Abby in Wonderland

Title:  Abby in Wonderland

Author:  Sarah Mlynowski

Series:  Whatever After #10.5

Publisher:  Scholastic Press

Date Published:  September 17, 2017

Genre:  Middle Grade, Fairy Tale Retelling

Rating:  ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: 

-    Abby usually visits fairy tales through the magic mirror in her basement, but this time she falls into a giant hole on a golf course, and instead of her brother and dog accompanying her, her two best friends and sort of enemy falls into the hole with her. Abby and her friends have to wander through Wonderland and figure out how to get back home. Abby also has to deal with Penny, who isn't her most favorite person. 

-    I like that Abby and Penny learn that they have more in common than they think. I also really like that Abby learns why Penny acts the way she does. It is a good lesson to learn. Often times, the mean kids at school are struggling in some way, and they are just acting out because they don't know how else to behave. 

-    I loved all the Wonderland characters. I am a sucker for Wonderland stories. It's whimsical setting and characters are delightful. 

-    Gnome and I enjoyed reading this together. We laughed and had a lot of fun. 

Previous Whatever After Books

(covers are linked to my thoughts on each book)

  
  
  

Of Mice and Magic

Goodreads Synopsis:    Princess Harriet is nobody’s hamster damsel in distress! Book two of this series for Babymouse and Princess in Black fans is filled with even more action and twisted fairy tale fun

Princess Harriet has absolutely no interest in brushing her hair, singing duets with woodland animals, or any other typical princess activities. So when a fairy tells a very bored Harriet about twelve mice princesses who are cursed to dance all night long, she happily accepts the quest and sets off with a poncho of invisibility and her trusty battle quail. But when she arrives at the Mouse Kingdom, she discovers there's more to the curse than meets the eye, and trying to help is dangerous business . . . even for a tough princess like Harriet. 

From the creator of Dragonbreath, comes a laugh-out-loud funny new comic-hybrid series, bursting with girl power and furry fairy tale retellings.

My Thoughts:

-    This was really fun and silly. I loved the different twists on an old fairy tale.

-    I love Harriet's snarky attitude, and I love that she takes charge and get things done. 

-    Gnome and I both had fun with this book, but Gnome wanted to read the rest of the series by herself. I won't continue the series on my own. 

Previous Book

Harriet the Invincible

From Goodreads:    Sleeping Beauty gets a feisty, furry twist in this hilarious new comic series from the creator of Dragonbreath

Harriet Hamsterbone is not your typical princess. She may be quite stunning in the rodent realm (you'll have to trust her on this one), but she is not so great at trailing around the palace looking ethereal or sighing a lot. She finds the royal life rather . . . dull. One day, though, Harriet's parents tell her of the curse that a rat placed on her at birth, dooming her to prick her finger on a hamster wheel when she's twelve and fall into a deep sleep. For Harriet, this is most wonderful news: It means she's invincible until she's twelve! After all, no good curse goes to waste. And so begins a grand life of adventure with her trusty riding quail, Mumfrey...until her twelfth birthday arrives and the curse manifests in a most unexpected way.

Perfect for fans of Babymouse and Chris Colfer's Land of Stories, this laugh-out-loud new comic hybrid series will turn everything you thought you knew about princesses on its head.

My Thoughts:

-    This was a fun and refreshing twist on an old fairy tale. Gnome and I both really enjoyed this one.

-    The book is unique. Some pages have illustrations and dialogue like a graphic novel, but most pages just have text like a regular novel. It was cool that they mixed the two. 

-    I like that Harriet just does whatever, and I love that she uses her curse to her advantage. 

-    I liked that this had a lot of twists on the Sleeping Beauty. I wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

-    There were a lot of funny moments. Gnome and I laughed throughout the book.

-    My only complaint is that the book is a little long. I think they could have shortened it a bit.

Snow White: A Graphic Novel

Goodreads Synopsis:    Award-winning graphic novelist Matt Phelan delivers a darkly stylized noir Snow White set against the backdrop of Depression-era Manhattan.

The scene: New York City, 1928. The dazzling lights cast shadows that grow ever darker as the glitzy prosperity of the Roaring Twenties screeches to a halt. Enter a cast of familiar characters: a young girl, Samantha White, returning after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of the Follies, years earlier; her father, the King of Wall Street, who survives the stock market crash only to suffer a strange and sudden death; seven street urchins, brave protectors for a girl as pure as snow; and a mysterious stock ticker that holds the stepmother in its thrall, churning out ticker tape imprinted with the wicked words "Another . . . More Beautiful . . . KILL." In a moody, cinematic new telling of a beloved fairy tale, extraordinary graphic novelist Matt Phelan captures the essence of classic film noir on the page—and draws a striking distinction between good and evil.

My Thoughts:

-    This book went by SO fast, but I really enjoyed it.

-    There is very little dialogue, but the artist puts a lot into the illustrations. 

-    This is the classic tale, but set in the 1920s. It was awesome. I wish there had been a little bit of a twist to the story.

-    I picked this one up on a whim, and I'm really glad I did. 

Fairy Godmothers, Inc.

From Goodreads:    In a world where fairy tale situations are as much a fact of life as death and taxes, everyone knows hiring Fairy Godmothers, Inc. is the best way to assure that your beautiful daughter or enchanted frog of a grandson will get the happily-ever-after he or she deserves. Sure, sometimes a little love potion is required to make sure those quotas stay up, but what Prince Charming doesn’t know won’t hurt him. 


Kate, an experienced Fairy Godmother, who’s enough of a romantic to frustrate her rigidly rule-bound boss, has just received a specialty assignment from one of the company’s board of directors. Cinderella—Rellie for short—was placed with an appropriately wicked stepfamily years before, and now needs the dress, ball, and handsome prince to complete her happily-ever-after. The fact that Rellie isn’t sure this is her dream come true—balls are fun, but princes tend to be less interesting than fluffy bunnies—isn’t something management considers a problem.

Complicating things a bit is Jon, the youngest son of the royal family, who meets Kate, and is smitten, but isn’t quite ready yet to reveal his true identity. After all, it’s his older brother Rupert who’s supposed to marry Rellie, which means pretending to be a lowly civil servant will give him the chance to spend more time with Kate. (As long as he can get the ball arranged, and stop Rupert from getting himself into trouble over his “self-actualization” business, he should have the perfect opportunity to explain everything and get started on making a little magic with the Fairy Godmother of his dreams.) 

But, of course, things never ever happen as planned.

My Thoughts:

-    The writing style killed this book for me. My mind kept wandering, and I had a hard time focusing on the story. There was A LOT of telling not showing. 

-    I really struggled to get through this. I wasn't connecting with the story or the characters. The book is shorter, so I finished, but I wanted to quit several times.

-    There were a few things about the story that didn't make sense to me, like I don't understand why Rellie and Jon know what happened to them. Why would you make a love potion that people could fight against? 

-    I wouldn't recommend picking this up.