Review: Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper by Charles Perrault and illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper
By: Charles Perrault
Illustrated by: Camille Rose Garcia
Publisher: Harper Design
ISBN: 978-0062333919

Review:

Prior to the release of Disney's gorgeous new Cinderella, I stumbled across this new storybook edition of the classic story by Charles Perrault, lavishly illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia. I'm not going to comment on the story here (which I love), but rather on this volume's effectiveness as a vehicle for transmitting the classic story in a fresh way. On that score, Garcia succeeds in spades. this is a gorgeous volume, filled with eye-popping swathes of color on every spread. The illustrations bring the Cinderella story to life with all of the quirk, charm, and energy of a Tim Burton film, sure to appeal to readers looking for something outside the norm represented by more traditional incarnations of the famous rags-to-riches princess. Whether you are looking to add Perrault's original classic to your library for the first time or expand on your collection, this beautifully illustrated hardback is a worthy addition to the ever-expanding world of fairy tale related literature. 

About the book:

"Do not stay past midnight. If you remain at the ball a minute longer, your coach will again become a pumpkin."

Initially published in 1697, Charles Perrault's Cinderella is one of the most beloved and widely known fairy tales. Cinderella has been ordered into servitude by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, but when a costume ball is held for the kingdom's marriageable prince, Cinderella's fairy godmother gives her the chance to attend—disguised as a lavishly dressed and bejeweled princess. But Cinderella must depart at the stroke of midnight, lest her fine clothes turn to rags and her coach to a simple garden pumpkin. In her flight, she leaves a tiny glass slipper in her wake—the lovelorn prince's only clue to her identity. Will he find her?

This new gift edition presents the unabridged version of the Perrault tale, with the bewitching, brilliantly colored illustrations of renowned artist Camille Rose Garcia.

Cinderella trailer!!

Y'all this looks AMAZING! And the cast!!! Hayley Atwell as Cinderella's mother, CATE BLANCHETT as the stepmother, Holliday Grainger as Anastasia, Sophie McShera (DAISY!!) as Drizella, Richard Madden as the Prince, and Lily James as Cinderella, directed by Kenneth Branagh and with a score by Patrick Doyle!! AND THOSE COSTUMES!!! This is to die for. Bring on March!! :)

Review: Cinderella's Dress by Shonna Slayton

Cinderella's Dress
By: Shonna Slayton
Publisher: Entangled Teen
ASIN: B00GL3NBQK

Review:

The better part of Kate Allen's youth has been spent coming of age in a world at war, never forgetting the twin mantras of making do and doing without in order to support the war effort. But now, on the cusp of adulthood, she finds herself caught between the life she's always known and dreams of making a name for herself, of doing something to set herself apart. While her mother has long harbored dreams of stardom for her only daughter, shuttling her from auditions to fashion shows, Kate would much rather be known for her creativity than her figure or dubious acting talents. With the end of the war at long last in sight, Kate pushes to realize her ambition of breaking into the male-dominated world of window design at the department store where she works. And when she catches the eye of handsome Johnny Day, the owner's son, she seems tantalizingly close to realizing both her professional dreams and, at long last, the promise of romance.

But when Kate's great-aunt and uncle unexpectedly arrive on her doorstep, everything changes. Elsie and Adalbert bring with them not only stories of war-ravaged Poland, but a large trunk containing their most closely-guarded secret. Within the trunk lies the real-life Cinderella's dress, and with its possession a familial legacy of honor, heartache, and danger. As Kate quickly discovers, the dress -- and its powers -- are real. And how she responds to the legendary garment and its call on her life promises to impact both a centuries-old feud and the course of her own future.

I was thrilled when approached with the opportunity to review Cinderella's Dress, for beyond that gorgeous cover image, it promised to combine my two great reading loves -- World War II history and re-imagined fairy tales. For her debut, Shonna Slayton set herself the ambitious task of translating a beloved fairy tale into a believable fashion into an already rich, real-life historical framework. And while the end result isn't quite what I anticipated, I must applaud Slayton for this fresh take on the ever-popular trend of retelling classic tales, particularly in such a unique and fresh way.

Going into the novel, I expected more dress-specific impact to the storyline -- more of a direct translation of the fairy tale to Kate's twentieth-century world. Instead, Slayton delivers a wartime coming of age tale lightly-colored by Kate's unique family history, inspiring her own Cinderella-esque romance. I wish the importance of the dress and the role it would come to play in Kate's life had been established sooner in the narrative. Instead, over the course of this relatively slim novel, the dress lingers in the background, an on-going mystery while months pass and the war eventually ends. While this stalls the forward momentum of the narrative, it does reveal Slayton's greatest strength -- and that is in the establishment of a wholly believable, 1940s-era teenage voice in Kate. I LOVED watching Kate grow up, push boundaries, and fall in love. The letters interspersed throughout the text were an especially welcome touch -- my only complaint is that there weren't enough of them! The letters also illuminate the issue of pacing and the passage of time in this novel -- one or two brief missives may span a time jump of months, leaving readers to assume a growth in Kate's friendship with Johnny that I would have preferred to see explored in greater depth on the page.

Slayton has a wonderful knack for evoking wartime New York. From Kate's relationship with her mother and brother, their collective concern over her father in Europe and her brother's upcoming enlistment, to Kate's relationship with her best friend and their conversations about everything from film and fashion to Frank Sinatra (LOVED that!), and her desire to break into a male-dominated profession, the homefront springs to life on the page with a refreshing authenticity. Cinderella's Dress may be light on the fairy tale-related drama, but as a sketch of the hopes and fears of those on the wartime homefront it succeeds marvelously.

I was pleasantly surprised by the manner in which Kate's slowly-blossoming romance with Johnny mirrors the story beats of the Cinderella tale, with a thoroughly modern twist. No wicked stepfamily here, just a working girl falling in love with the gorgeous, artistic-minded "prince" of her workplace. While the twist of a real Cinderella dress was a promising concept, what enthralled me most about this debut was Kate's pitch-perfect period teenage voice, career aspirations, and relationship with Johnny. In fact, until the novel's final act, the Cinderella conceit felt *almost* unnecessary. What color it does add to the story I wish had been explored in greater depth, but for a debut I love the gamble taken here in seeking to incorporate the twin passions of history and folklore.

While Cinderella's Dress is less of a historical fairy tale and more of a slow-burning period character study, I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to Slayton's writing. I desperately wish some of her promising concepts had been given more room to develop, making the dress lore aspect of the story more prominent. But that aside, Slayton has a clear affinity for the time period and a charming ability to pen a sweet romance that left me thoroughly charmed. I would love to see more historical fiction of this ilk, and with clearer pacing and a stronger integration of the fairy tale and historical elements, I have high hopes that further ventures of this type from Slayton's pen may well outshine the first!

About the book:

Being a teen-ager during World War II is tough. Finding out you’re the next keeper of the real Cinderella’s dresses is even tougher.

Kate simply wants to create window displays at the department store where she's working, trying to help out with the war effort. But when long-lost relatives from Poland arrive with a steamer trunk they claim holds the Cinderella’s dresses, life gets complicated.

Now, with a father missing in action, her new sweetheart shipped off to boot camp, and her great aunt losing her wits, Kate has to unravel the mystery before it’s too late.

After all, the descendants of the wicked stepsisters will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve.

Cinderella teaser trailer

This teaser tells me absolutely NOTHING, yet I could not be more excited about this take on Cinderella:

Review: Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge

Gilded Ashes (A Cruel Beauty Novella)
By: Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
ASIN: B00BEFTQN2

Review:

Once a beloved only daughter, following her father's remarriage and subsequent death Maia has remained in her stepmother's household, despite being relegated to the status of a servant, subject to the whims of her stepfamily. Though an outsider in her own home, taken advantage of and abused, Maia remained, for she'd learned the price of her tears was too great for anyone else to pay. For Maia has an avenger, a guardian angel, if you will -- the ghostly spirit of her beloved mother, residing in the tree that they once played under when Maia was a child. If Maia's mother thinks she is anything less than perfectly happy, she unleashes the demons under her thrall to drive any who cross her daughter insane. What was once a love that Maia cherished has now become her prison...and so she bites her tongue and buries her true feelings, until she's forgotten the luxury of speaking the truth.

When Lord Anax, son and heir to the Duke of Sardis, announces that he will finally take a bride, Maia sees a golden opportunity to save her family from the threat of her mother's capricious moods. She agrees to act as her stepsister Kore's proxy, delivering her letters to Anax and securing his agreement to their marriage. But Maia never counted on finding a kindred spirit in the Duke's son, one who has been as burned by love as she. As she delivers a new letter each day, she finds herself leaving a little piece of her heart with Anax, until she realizes she's stumbled into the greatest danger of all -- for if she cannot sever her fledgling bond with Lord Anax, she may lose more than her stepfamily to her mother's wrath -- she might lose the hope Anax has given her for a future free from fear.

Since falling in love with Rosamund Hodge's debut novel, Cruel Beauty -- a heady mix of fairy tale and Greek mythology -- I've been eagerly anticipating her take on the Cinderella story. Set within the same world as Cruel Beauty -- Arcadia, ruled by the deal-making Gentle Lord, prince of demons -- Gilded Ashes reinvents the Cinderella story, blending her world of demons and dangerous bargains with the Brothers Grimm story of Aschenputtel.

In a world where Disney's take on classic fairy tales has become accepted as a societal norm, it's easy to forget that that the original stories were bloody and violent, pulling no punches, refusing to deliver a romanticized version of the world in which these timeless characters lived. Reconciling Aschenputtel with Disney is a particularly good illustration of this disparity in Cinderella retellings, for the Brothers Grimm filled their story with a ghostly mother, stepsisters who self-mutilated, and the doves who later punished them for their misdeeds by plucking out their eyes.

Hodge doesn't go quite *that* far, but she restores the tension to the story, raising the stakes for her Cinderella and transforming the tropes of the classic fairy tale into a gorgeous examination of guilt, loss, and love. Here, the mother's ghost is absolutely TERRIFYING (why did I never realize this before?), a powerful catalyst for Maia's transformation from servant shackled by her circumstances to a woman embracing the chance to face world and the uncertainties of the future on her own terms -- but only if she's willing to let go of the past. Within eighty short pages, Hodge crafts a wonderfully believable romance, but even better, redeems Maia's stepfamily from the status of mere villains to fully realized characters, individuals every bit as broken and in need of love as Maia.

Gilded Ashes is a haunting, wonderfully creative Cinderella retelling, cementing Ms. Hodge as a YA author to watch. Rich in mystery, romance, and spine-tingling chills, this is the best kind of novella -- one a fully-realized and satisfying whole on its own, but that leaves you desperately wanting more. A gorgeous tale, beautifully told -- I can't wait for Ms. Hodge's next book!

About the book:

A romantic reimagining of the classic Cinderella fairy tale, Gilded Ashes is a novella by Rosamund Hodge set in the same world as her debut novel, Cruel Beauty.

Maia doesn't see the point of love when it only brings people pain: her dead mother haunts anyone who hurts Maia, and her stepsisters are desperate for their mother's approval, even though she despises them.

Meanwhile, Anax, heir to the Duke of Sardis, doesn't believe in love either—not since he discovered that his childhood sweetheart was only using him for his noble title. But when Maia's and Anax's paths cross before the royal ball, they discover that love might not be the curse they once thought. And it might even be the one thing that can save them both.

Fantasy fans who love Kristin Cashore and Rae Carson will find everything they're looking for in this extraordinary and romantic novella.

Review: An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn

An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgertons #3)
By: Julia Quinn
Publisher: Harper Collins
ASIN: B000FC1PN4

Review:

From her earliest childhood memories, Sophie Beckett knew the truth of her parentage, and as a consequence, her place relative to the world of the rarefied English ton -- strictly outside the elite ranks of that social whirl. As the bastard daughter of the Earl of Penwood, Sophie knew she rested behind the thinnest veneer of respectability -- claimed as the earl's ward, but with the truth of her parentage write clear on her features, until her tenth year Sophie enjoyed a life that, although lacking the emotional security of family ties that she craved, provided for the physical needs of food, shelter, and education. But everything changed when her father married a widow with two daughters, and Araminta, the new countess, taught Sophie what it meant to be shamed for possessing antecedents well and truly out of her control. For four years, the girl was further ostracized, hated by the woman she'd hoped to look on as a mother and ridiculed by her daughters Rosamund and Posy. With the earl's sudden passing, Sophie found herself unacknowledged and penniless, thrust into a life of servitude, at the mercy of Araminta's every whim. Six years pass, and her dreams worn thin under the grinding heel of Araminta's shoe, when invitations to the famed Bridgerton masquerade ball arrive, Sophie seizes the chance to, for just one night, be something more than a scorned illegitimate daughter -- to be just her, a woman reborn, a world of possibilities at her feet. It was just one night -- and one night couldn't possibly cause any harm. But sneaking into the masquerade, arrayed in a dazzling silver gown, Sophie underestimated the power of one night to transform her life forever, for she never counted on meeting Benedict Bridgerton...

Benedict, the tall, lanky, impossibly handsome second Bridgerton, is heartily sick of society in general and his mother Violet's matchmaking schemes in particular. But when he spies a mysterious woman in silver at his mother's masquerade, he knows his life has changed forever -- for this woman, known to him only by her winsome smile and electrifying presence, this woman, over the course of one brief encounter, captures his heart forever. When she flees the ball, leaving only a monogrammed glove as a clue to her identity, he's devastated, and spends months searching for her among the ton, to no avail. And as the months become years, he becomes convinced his once chance at a love match to rival his parents' has passed -- sure, that is, until he rescues housemaid Sophie Beckett from the unwelcome advances of her employer at a country party. But Sophie is a servant, a wholly unsuitable match for the younger brother of a viscount...isn't she? Be that as it may, she's the only woman to make his heart sing since the long-ago masquerade, and so he proposes an audacious scheme -- Sophie will become his mistress. However, Benedict never reckoned on Sophie's horror of inflicting her illegitimacy on a possible child, or the secrets she's been holding dear. When the truth is finally revealed, will true love conquer all, or will social conventions shatter the promise of a love that flowered one magical night, when a masquerade gave an unlikely pair the courage to reveal their hearts?

The more I read Julia Quinn, the more I become convinced that this woman can do no wrong. The Bridgertons have quickly become one of my all-time favorite fictional families, and with this third installment, Quinn blends her trademark warmth, wit, and humor with a fairy tale retelling that is at once both literal and wholly new. The Duke and I and The Viscount Who Loved Me, which showcased the love stories of Benedict's sister Daphne and brother Anthony, respectively, are essential fairy tales in and of themselves -- delightfully romantic, humorous, heartfelt confections that establish Quinn as a gold standard in romance. But with An Offer From a Gentleman, Quinn takes the conceit one step further, weaving the tropes of the Cinderella story -- the evil stepmother and stepsisters, shoes, a ball, secret identities -- into the Bridgerton world and making the classic tale her own.

Lest her retelling become too literal, Quinn introduces Sophie and Benedict, sparks fly -- and then circumstances conspire to keep the would-be lovers apart for two years. And this time jump is one of the things that impressed me the most about this retelling of Cinderella, revealing Quinn's determination to thoroughly test the fairy tale trope of love at first sight to the max. Both Sophie and Benedict construct ideals, fantasies that arguably see the best potential in each other but just as arguably fall short of reality. For Sophie's determination to keep her secret, reveals the great irony of the title -- Benedict's offer to make Sophie the maid his mistress means that in perhaps the most important respect -- respect of Sophie as an individual, regardless of social station -- that he is no gentleman. His pressure to get Sophie to acquiesce to his plan is inexcusable and short-sighted, but it's a testament to Quinn's characterization and plotting that he still emerges as a hero worthy of keeping company with Simon and Anthony. This Bridgerton, of the charmed life, loving family, and hidden artistic bent, is desperate to be known and loved as an individual, yet is just as susceptible to the social pressure to marry well until he realizes that in Sophie he has a woman who'd love him if he were a pauper -- and how, therefore, could he do any less in return?

Perhaps it is the comfort of familiarity, but with each successive installment that I read of Quinn's Bridgerton series I fall more and more in love with this delightfully quirky, passionate, close-knit family. Even more than the previous two installments, this novel showcases their legendary family bond, and gives their matriarch Violet a chance to shine, far beyond merely urging each of her children in turn towards matrimony. It could be tempting, with Quinn's breezy writing style and irrepressible sense of humor, to gloss over the weightier themes of family and belonging, of seeing, being seen, and being truly accepted as one is, that she explores within the pages of Benedict and Sophie's story, but that is what makes her books such gems. She blends the heady flush of new romance with a refreshingly honest look at what it takes to make a relationship last beyond the thrill of discovery and the first rush of passion. An Offer From a Gentleman is romantic escapism at its finest, yes -- but escapism laced with thought-provoking nuggets shedding light on identity, self-worth, and the respect of one another required to make a relationship work that once again elevates Quinn's storytelling from the realms of the ordinary to the extraordinary.

About the book:

Sophie Beckett never dreamed she′d be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton′s famed masquerade ball - or that "Prince Charming" would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.

Who was that extraordinary woman? Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other - except, perhaps, this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid′s garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers her his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy tale love?

The UK cover!

******

So, I know the costumes aren't right, but hey when we're talking fairy tale casting who cares about accuracy, eh? All while I was reading An Offer From a Gentleman I kept picturing Benedict and Sophie as Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven from my beloved 1976 version of Cinderella, The Slipper and the Rose.

I mean look at this profile -- does that scream artistic, brooding aristocrat or what? :)

Review: Fairest of All by Serena Valentino

Fairest of All
By: Serena Valentino
Publisher: Disney Press
ASIN: B0078X0UV6

Review:

When the Evil Queen first appeared on movie theater screens in 1937, Walt Disney set the gold standard for all screen versions of fairy tale villains to come. She was gorgeous, menacing, and altogether overwhelming -- a scene-stealing villain, the embodiment of unrepentant evil. Or was she? As it is no secret that I adore fairy tales and film and novel re-tellings -- or re-imaginings -- of these classic tales of good versus evil, it was a foregone conclusion that when I stumbled upon Fairest of All I'd one day read it.

Here, Serena Valentino crafts a backstory to the Evil Queen of legend, positing a history that, were different choices made, could have allowed for a very different -- and altogether more positive -- outcome of the Queen's relationship with her stepdaughter Snow White. Much like Elphaba's story in Wicked, the television show Once Upon a Time, or (presumably) the upcoming film Maleficent, this novel attempts to reassess the Queen in light of her upbringing, if not exactly excusing or attempting to justify her behavior outright, but rather to offer a plausible reason as to why the Queen would go to such drastic measures to remove Snow from her life.

The young Queen is one eager for a place to belong, desperately in love with her husband and eager to be a mother to her new daughter. But she's terribly insecure, crippled her father's emotional abuse and eager, desperate for the validation being in a family can provide. However, when that haven is threatened, the door is opened for this insecure Queen to seek affirmation elsewhere -- even if its at the hands of a mirror whose power stems from her greatest oppressor.

I love the ambition behind this novel, and the fairly plausible manner in which Valentino attempts to flesh out the canon of the film. It is a bit simplistic in its rendering, however, as she introduces great ideas only to leave them less than fully developed, perhaps giving the target audience less credit than they deserve. Valentino knows her source material, and peppers her story with film and other Disney canonical (including my favorite, a Sleeping Beauty shout-out!). Her prose, while occasionally reminscent of Grimm or Perrault, can be somewhat simplistic and stilted, filled with awkward descriptions and "flourishes," but on the whole this is a pleasing addition to Disney and fairy tale lore. I'd love to see Valentino explore the backstory of other famous villains, like Ursula, or perhaps Cinderella's enigmatic nemesis -- a veritable treasure trove of opportunities are waiting in the wings, and Valentino's passion and imaginative flair for this type of fiction holds promise.

About the book:

For anyone who's seen Walt Disney's Snow White, you'll know that the Wicked Queen is one evil woman! After all, it's not everyone who wants to cut out their teenage step-daughter's heart and have it delivered back in a locked keepsake box. (And even if this sort of thing is a common urge, we don't know many people who have acted upon it.)

Now, for the first time, we'll examine the life of the Wicked Queen and find out just what it is that makes her so nasty. Here's a hint: the creepy-looking man in the magic mirror is not just some random spooky visage-and he just might have something to do with the Queen's wicked ways!

Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty
By: Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
ASIN: B00DB365MK

Review:

Nyx Triskelion was raised to die. From childhood she's known that she was designed and trained to be the instrument of her father's vengeance against the Gentle Lord that held all of Arcadia in an iron grip -- she was not worth saving; rather, she was the necessary sacrifice. For over nine hundred years Arcadia has been isolated from the rest of the world, suffering under the rule of the Gentle Lord, a prince of demons who makes bargains with his vassals -- bargains that always exact a costly and oft-times unexpected price, as when Nyx's father begged on behalf of his wife for children, only to see his wife die in childbirth with a future forfeit to come -- a daughter given in marriage to the feared lord. As a daughter of a famed scholar and leader of the Resurgandi, an organization ostensibly founded to further Hermetic research (the study of the power of the four elements of earth, wind, air, and fire), but whose true goal was to undo the sundering and destroy the Gentle Lord, Nyx was raised as a sacrifice. Robbed of her future because of her father's folly, Nyx is tasked with destroying the Gentle Lord, knowing her life is a sure forfeit in the process.

When her seventeenth birthday arrives, Nyx is married by proxy to the Gentle Lord and deposited at the door of the crumbling castle that is his home. But her husband is not the demon she was raised to expect. Handsome and yes, even kind, with a smile that makes her heart skip a beat, rather than demand the intimacy of the marriage bed, he grants Nyx the freedom of the house. And most shockingly of all, rather than punish her for her spirit and her desire to rid the land of his presence, he seems to relish her spirit and applaud her honesty, rewarding her with a tantalizing promise -- every night she will receive the chance to guess his name. Guess correctly, and she wins her freedom -- but given the wrong answer, and she'll lose her life, joining the eight previous wives who risked it all and lost. The longer Nyx dwells in Ignifex's enchanted home, and the more she learns about the power that he wields over all of Arcadia, she begins to wonder if Ignifex is as much a captive as her, held in thrall to forces more powerful than she ever imagined. When the monster this beauty has been raised to loathe, raised to kill, begins to capture her heart, Nyx struggles between keeping her vow and freeing her people, or risking everything to save the demon lord who has captured her heart.

I must confess, what first drew me to Rosamund Hodge's debut was not the promise of a fresh re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast, one of my favorite fairy tales, but its gorgeously-designed cover. And having finished Cruel Beauty I love its cover even more, for it is the rare design that perfectly captures the spirit of the novel it represents, a pitch-perfect imagining of the essence of Hodge's darkly beautiful, twisty take on a tale as old as time. But more than a straight Beauty and the Beast re-telling, Hodge takes her story's inspiration from Greek mythology, specifically the Cupid and Psyche legend. In this respect Cruel Beauty is reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's classic Till We Have Faces, which told the Cupid and Psyche tale through the lens of Psyche's embittered older sister, Orual. Hodge skilfully blends the tropes of both tales, bringing her own unique and enthralling vision to life on the page.

This may sound strange, but what I think I loved most about this story is just how angry Nyx is throughout, struggling to reconcile her fate with her own thwarted desires, disappointments, and family betrayals. There is something so refreshingly honest in having a "Beauty" who resents her role as the family's savior, who struggles with the uglier aspects of her personality, sure that the fact of their very existence precludes her from any happy ending of her own, even as she rails against those that demand she sacrifice everything. But even as Nyx struggles to reconcile the light and dark facets of her own personality, in her husband's household she is drawn to the cunning and handsome Ignifex and the sacrificial and kind Shade, her husband's shadow that shares his form but appears to be the complete opposite of his personality. In being drawn to both men -- sure she isn't worthy of Shade, and just as sure she is worthy of being damned for wanting Ignifex's kisses.

Nyx embodies the struggle of being vulnerable enough to love and be loved, of grappling with selflessness, and of buying into the lie that one's own failings can preclude even the possibility of love and acceptance -- but the possibility is tantalizing, as Nyx beautifully states, wanting to "lose myself in the embrace of the one person who had ever seen my heart and claimed to love me after." Cruel Beauty is a gorgeous rendering of the redemptive power of sacrificial love, freely given, and its power to utterly transform the lives of both the giver and receiver. Only when all seems lost do Nyx and Ignifex learn the power of "a handful of kindess," of grace freely given. Only then does a beauty's heart save a beast, but here the beast's heart saves the beauty as well, and that beautifully illustrated reciprocity elevates Hodge's debut from something ordinary to the sublime.

With her stunning debut Hodge delivers a thought-provoking, lushly-realized fantasy, a gorgeous re-telling of a classic, perfect for fans of Robin McKinley's prose. Pacing-wise the beginning of the novel felt a bit sluggish, as the copious amounts of information necessary to understand the mechanics of Nyx's world are revealed, but that issue is quickly overcome as I found myself lost in Hodge's opulent world-building, rich prose, and heartfelt characterizations. Cruel Beauty is a novel to savor and marks Hodge as an author to watch, and I for one cannot wait to see which tale she brings to life, stamped with her unique vision, next!

About the book:

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom—all because of a reckless bargain her father struck. And since birth, she has been training to kill him.

Betrayed by her family yet bound to obey, Nyx rails against her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, she abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, disarm him, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her. As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. But even if she can bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him?

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Review: Glitches by Marissa Meyer

Glitches (Lunar Chronicles #0.5)
By: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: TOR
ASIN: B0085UCSZC

Review:

Glitches is a short prequel to Marissa Meyer's debut, Cinder -- a futuristic, science-fiction colored retelling of the Cinderella story. Since I adore fairy tale retellings, Cinder has been (languishing) on my to-be-read stack since its debut -- but as I am determined to finally dive into Meyer's world, I thought it only appropriate to first read this short story that introduces Cinder and her world (though it should be noted that it was released after Meyer's debut - but since I generally try to read series fiction chronologically, I opted to read this story first). 

Released as part of TOR's 2012 Fierce Reads anthology, Glitches introduces a pre-teen Cinder, half-human, half-cyborg, en route to her new home in New Beijing. "Enhanced" with a robotic arm and leg following the accident that killed her parents, she's left without memory of her previous life in New Europe and only the hope that she can find a home with Garan, the man who oversaw her "rebuild" and his wife and daughters. I LOVED this set-up -- in a world at once both familiar and alien, Cinder finds herself acclimating to a life without context, where she is not only feared by many for her mechanical aspects but possesses abilities and talents she's received no training in (like instant data look-up, and an affinity for robotic tinkering).

Though just a few pages long, this short story packs quite a punch, establishing Cinder's relationships with her stepsisters -- the sympathetic Peony, the more snobbish Pearl, the reconstructed robot Iko, and the harsh -- and presumably soon-to-be-villainous stepmother Adri. The events leading to Garan's presumed death and Cinder's subsequent fall from grace in Adri's eyes are pitch-perfect and heartbreaking, especially given Cinder's disconnect with human emotion thanks to her amnesia and newly-enhanced form. This is a fantastic introduction to Meyer's imaginative world-building, and I cannot wait to dive into her full-length fiction now!

About the book:

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In Glitches, a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch...

Sleeping Beauty

I've become a little obsessed with collecting images for my Fairy Tales: Sleeping Beauty board on Pinterest lately, so I thought it was time to share a few of my new favorites:

Review: Beauty and the Beast by Jenni James

Beauty and the Beast (Faerie Tale Collection #1)
By: Jenni James
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
ASIN: B008940W3Y

Review:

When Prince Alexander, the spoiled, handsome ruler of the land directs one of his famous insults at an ugly old woman, the last thing he expects is retaliation. But retaliate she does, cursing him to live each night in the form of a beast unless he can find a woman to love him in his beastly form within a year, thereby breaking the spell. Losing hope that anyone could look beyond his beastly form, Alexander concentrates his efforts on a succession plan, determined to leave his kingdom in better hands than his own. But when he crosses paths with the brokenhearted Miss Cecelia Hammerstein-Smythe, he begins to hope for a future free of his cursed form. For Cecelia, once mocked by Alexander for her kind heart and rejected by another suitor, sees a goodness in Alexander the beast that he never knew existed, making him long to be a man and ruler worthy of her regard. But just as Alexander begins to hope that Cecelia's love might break the spell, another force rises to threaten his hopes -- one determined so determined to steal Alexander's throne he'd do anything to ensure the prince remains a beast forever.

Being an absolute SUCKER for all things fairy tale related, when I stumbled upon Jenni James' series of fairy tale retellings I knew I had to give them a try. James clearly has a passion for fairy tales and her spin on the tropes of the Beauty and the Beast tale possesses some interesting twists. But any charm these sparks of creativity lend the story is overwhelmed by plodding prose, clunky dialogue, and uneven pacing.

James sets her tale in what I can only assume is the Regency time period due to repeated references to cravats and over-use of "gel" for "girl." It's an interesting concept, setting what is essentially a werewolf story in this time frame. While I liked the idea of the prince as a beast only half the time, allowing readers to see Cecelia interact with his human and beastly selves, the conceit falters due to a lack of context. With no set ground rules for the time period or the use of magic within this world, the novelty of this twist quickly fades due to the lack of world-building. And while the basic idea of the "Beauty" character as a somewhat shy, socially awkward society miss is novel, there is never the sense of true peril or sacrifice on Cecelia's part that makes the traditional story -- and more polished retellings -- so timeless.

I have to give the author credit for her passion for these timeless stories, and there are indeed the seeds of unique ideas within this novella that only faltered for a lack of development and polish. That said, the book kept me sufficiently interested to read in one afternoon, if for no other reason than a sense of nostalgia that my childhood self would've appreciated James' romantic bent. Those seeking more substantive, powerful retellings of the Beauty and the Beast story should check out Robin McKinley's classics -- for here is a featherweight, fluffy effort that will leave you craving the transformative power of the source material.

About the book:

A prince by day and a wolf by night—

Prince Alexander has been turned into a werewolf and has one year to find someone to love the beast and break the spell, or he will be a wolf forever. He has nearly given up achieving the impossible, knowing no girl would ever fall in love with such a monster.

Just when he is about to abdicate the throne to his cousin, he meets Cecelia Hammerstein-Smythe, while a wolf, and begins to hope for the first time in months. Can he balance both worlds as a human and beast, gaining the love and trust of a girl who has every reason to despise him?

Cecelia detests the prince. She only knows Alexander as the arrogant monarch—the tyrant who has made her life miserable—though perhaps he's changed right before her eyes. He's not as full of himself as he once was. The prince is gentle now... but then again, so is the beast.

Jack the Giant Slayer

Jack the Giant Slayer opened in theaters a few weeks ago, playing to the current public fascination with retooling classic tales for modern audiences. Growing up, "Jack and the Beanstalk" was always one of my least favorite fairy tales, due primarily to a distinct lack of any sort of romance -- or, at the very least, the presence of any female character with whom I could identify. (The only retelling of this story that I enjoyed at all was the 1967 film version starring Gene Kelly -- PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one that's seen this!) Trailers for this film promised not only a hint of romance but a healthy dose of humor as well -- and as a decent Saturday afternoon entertainment the film (mostly) delivers, even if it falls a bit short in my view of being a truly memorable fairy tale retelling, lacking a certain spark that I look for in film and bookish retellings of this type.

According to the film's Wikipedia page, the script for Giant Slayer was based on two "Jack" stories -- the widely-known "Jack and the Beanstalk" (English in origin, Jack living with his widowed mother, steals hen that lays golden eggs & a harp from giant, NO romance) and "Jack the Giant Killer" (Cornish fairy tale, King Arthur figures into the plot, and there is a lot about Lucifer, magical accouterments, Jack ends up marrying a Duke's daughter, etc.). Personally I think I would've liked Jack a whole lot more growing up if I'd been exposed to the Cornish version of his story -- I mean HELLO?? Jack has loads of adventures, a magic sword, and a CAP OF KNOWLEDGE! Clearly I spent my childhood reading the wrong fairy tale compilation. *wink*

While I enjoyed this film well enough, on the whole I think it was something of a missed opportunity as it felt like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be -- an old-fashioned fairy tale, an epic war adventure with modern sensibilities, or something more...slapstick, and ultimately forgettable. Something just felt "off," and while it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly why this movie didn't work for me quite as well as I'd hoped, nonetheless it gets points for making Jack a winning character on the big screen.

This film positions Jack from childhood as a boy with a longing for a life bigger than his father's farm, one in love with the legends of his kingdom -- particularly Erik the Great, the king of Cloister who defeated an army of invading giants by crafting a magical crown that allowed him to banish them (as long as the crown remained safely in his keeping). Now right off the bat this movie loses a ton of points with the gosh-awful CGI flashback of the giants and Erik. It was BAD...I mean like ten years ago, in a video game, this maybe, maybe would've been cutting edge. So I'm immediately predisposed to think of the giants as ridiculous instead of fearsome...but clearly that is something the filmmakers were conflicted about as well, given how things play out.

But back to earth, for a moment...the script makes the smart decision to introduce a female lead early on, juxtaposing the young Jack's fascination with his kingdom's history, an interest unbeknownst to him that he shares with the current king's only child, the Princess Isabelle. Years pass and Jack grows up under surly uncle's care, having lost his father years earlier -- a loss he shares with Isabelle, left struggling against her father's desire to be the "perfect," protected princess after her mother's untimely death.

Even though this film hasn't been loved by critics or the box office, one cannot deny that as Jack, Nicholas Hoult is having a pretty good year. Following his turn as R the zombie in the charming (yes, CHARMING) zombie-romantic comedy Warm Bodies, Hoult tackles more traditional Hollywood fare here with this throwback to classic Hollywood adventure spectacles of yore. He's adorable as the poor boy longing to make good, and has an appealing chemistry with Eleanor Tomlinson as Isabelle -- but both tend to come off as a shade too...sincere, is perhaps the word I'm looking for (though I tend to blame the script rather than the actors...they don't have a great deal to work with here).

The absolute best thing about this film is its stellar supporting cast, particularly Ewan MacGregor as the dashing and PERFECTLY COIFFED Elmont, leader of the king's guard. According to Buzzfeed, MacGregor's hair was the best thing about this movie, and I've got to say I'm inclined to agree with that assessment -- only I'd take it a step farther. MacGregor seems to be the only one having any real FUN here -- he knows he's in an absurd film and clearly relishes every opportunity he's given to ham it up for the camera (i.e., when he's about to become a human "pig in a blanket" in the giant's kitchen -- his bravado is hilarious). I really rather wish that if this movie was going to be made, it had been given the greenlight five or so years ago, when perhaps MacGregor would've had a shot at playing Jack instead of stealing the show in a supporting role.

How did I get in this movie?

Me and my awesome hair, totally responsible for any and all ticket sales.

Eddie Marsan (Lestrade in the Guy Ritchie Sherlock films) plays Elmont's ill-fated sidekick Crawe. He doesn't have quite as much fun as MacGregor (considering the end he meets at the hands of the giants' general, that's the understatement of the year), but I love any opportunity I'm given to see him on-screen. The always adorable Stanley Tucci plays the villainous Sir Roderick, who first strives to conquer Isabelle's kingdom through marriage, and failing that, brute -- GIANT -- force. Tucci chews the scenery as Roderick in very much the same fashion he does as Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games, only with measurably less biting wit. *wink* As a point of reference, Roderick reminded me quite a bit of Cary Elwes as Edgar in Ella Enchanted. That.. *ahem* ...ridiculous. :P

Ooooohhhh, SHINY.

Last, but certainly not least, Ian McShane plays Isabelle's father, King Brahmwell. Now I love McShane. L-O-V-E him. But I kinda want to weep if this is what he's doing now...I just hope he didn't take this job and turn down the Gabriel Byrne role in the new Vikings show on the History Channel...because goodness THAT would've been a mistake. If you're interested in seeing McShane being AWESOME watch the all-too-short-lived series Kings, where he plays a memorable Silas -- and for a taste of Ian in his younger years, check out Gypsy Girl. It's a weird, WEIRD movie, but oh my WORD is McShane hot in it. :) As the embattled king, McShane exhibits a lot of strum und drang, but the second he turns out in gold-colored armor he loses all credibility. I don't know WHAT it is about gold armor, but it is SUCH a buzzkill for me. True story. I mean who can own THAT?

Seriously, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

Bill Nighy, phoning it in...

The vocal talent behind the giants is much more impressive than the actual giants themselves, sad to say. Led by Bill Nighy as General Fallon (seriously, BILL NIGHY...disguised as a cartoonish giant...what. a. WASTE), the giants skitter between moments bordering on menace and bathroom humor stupidity. While the CGI that brought them to life was better than the "flashback" at the beginning of the film, it still didn't quite work for me...too cartoonish, too much of a rip-off of the Ents from Middle-earth.

While this movie is a decent enough popcorn flick, as a "classic" fairy tale retelling it misses the mark in too many respects for me to truly love it. Throughout I felt as though it was struggling with a split personality -- wanting to either be a silly, kid-friendly flick or something more epic in scale and scope, as evidenced by the battle scenes in the final act. And while there is plenty of likeable talent to be found, the script and therefore the characterizations are either a mess or colorless caricatures. This latter point is what makes me most concerned about director Bryan Singer's return to the X-Men universe next year. I was thoroughly impressed with Matthew Vaughn's handling of the First Class universe and it's sprawling cast of characters, and I really wish he'd been given the chance to test his mettle with the sequel. (At least he's on board as producer.)

The end of this movie is the icing on the cake of COMPLETE RIDICULOUSNESS, but maybe that's just me. I mean I don't mind exploring folk and fairy tales as part of history but this movie took things a little too literally IMO. But John Ottman turns in a fun score for this hot mess! And any script/story problems aside, this is totally worth renting for Ewan's hair alone...it should be classified as a certified wonder of the filmic world. If you've seen the movie I'd love to hear what you thought!

Review: The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

The Stepsister Scheme (Princess Novels #1)
By: Jim C. Hines
Publisher: DAW
ISBN: B001O222DG

About the book:

Cinderella–whose real name is Danielle Whiteshore (nee Danielle de Glas)–does marry Prince Armand.  And if you can ignore the pigeon incident, their wedding is a dream come true.

But not long after the “happily ever after,” Danielle is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte, who suddenly has all sorts of magic to call upon.  And though Talia–otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty–comes to the rescue (she’s a martial arts master, and all those fairy blessings make her almost unbeatable), Charlotte gets away.

That’s when Danielle discovers a number of disturbing facts: Armand has been kidnapped and taken to the realm of the Fairies; Danielle is pregnant with his child; and the Queen has her own very secret service that consists of Talia and Snow (White, of course).  Snow is an expert at mirror magic and heavy duty flirting.

Can the three princesses track down Armand and extract both the prince and themselves from the clutches of some of fantasyland’s most nefarious villains?

What would happen if an author went back to the darker themes of the original fairy tales for his plots, and then crossed the Disney princesses with Charlie's Angels? What's delivered is The Stepsister Scheme, a whole new take on what happened to Cinderella and her prince after the wedding. And with Jim C. Hines penning the tale readers can bet it won't be and they lived happily ever after.

Review:

I adore fairy tales, and am always on the lookout for fairy tale retellings that seek to breathe fresh life into the bones of a classic, well-known tale. Thanks to a recent GoodReads friend request, I stumbled upon The Stepsister Scheme, the first novel in Jim C. Hines' Princess series. With its graphic novel-style cover artwork featuring three princesses ready for battle, I was immediately intrigued, as the artwork promises that are most assuredly not the princesses of classic lore. For the first volume in his Princess series, author Jim C. Hines returns some of literature's most famous heroines to their darker Grimm roots. Adding a healthy dash of modern sensibility, wry humor, and a set-up reminiscent of Charlie's Angels, Hines' princesses are no wilting wallflowers waiting to be rescued -- rather they are on a quest to reclaim their lives from the sanitized, romantic tales that have arisen around rumors of their respective pasts.

As the title hints, The Stepsister Scheme is primarily centered on Danielle Whiteshore, the real Cinderella (in a nice touch her father was a master glass artisan), attempting to adjust to her new life as a wife and princess. But shedding her past, riddled with emotional and physical abuses, proves difficult, and Danielle has trouble reconciling her previous hardscrabble existence with her stepmother and stepsisters with the privilege and power it is now her right to command. Following an attempted assassination attempt by her suddenly magic-wielding stepsister Charlotte, Danielle is introduced to a world she never dreamed existed, where her mother-in-law, Queen Bea, commands a duo of elite women -- Snow White, an expert in all things magical, and Talia, otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty, a fighting expert thanks to the fairies' gifts of preternatural grace and intuition. Snow and Talia's unique skill sets make them the ideal agents to serve the queen on dangerous assignments -- and when the attempt on Danielle's life reveals a plot to kidnap her husband and overthrow the kingdom, she joins the pair determined to save her marriage and prove her mettle as a fighting princess.

I loved the multitude of nods to each princess's original story that Hines incorporates into his wildly fractured reimagining. Snow's nemesis -- this time her mother -- is tortured by being forced to dance in red-hot shoes as in the Grimm version. There's also a tragically doomed romance with a handsome huntsman and a multitude of mirrors replete with magical uses. Talia views her fairy gifts as more of a curse than a blessing, and while a prince figures in her reawakening, he's less noble and far more lecherous pervert. I loved the touch of a "spindle whip" being Talia's weapon of choice -- that was a nice nod the spindle lore in the original tale. But my favorite nod to Grimm involved Danielle's story, which saw Hines keep "Cinderwench's" guardian angel in the form of her mother's spirit -- first trapped within a magical tree, then a glass (!!) sword, as well as the vicious bird attack her stepsisters experience at the royal wedding.

While this is an undeniably fun concept, where this debut in the series falters is in character development. Danielle is the only princess I consistently felt any sympathy towards or inclination to cheer on as she fought to rescue her husband and reclaim her happy ending from the machinations of her stepsisters. Snow and Talia suffer from unfortunate stereotyping for much of the novel -- Snow is a sexed-up flirt while Talia is the embittered, rude warrior (and in a "twist" you can see coming a mile off, has unrequited feelings for Snow...ergh). Much is made of their own dark histories, but it isn't until the final third of the novel that their backstories are explored, finally lending the them some level of much-needed depth. Despite the character development issues and an occasional want of plot focus, Hines' world-building sparks with life. This is a fresh, energetic, and oft-times wonderfully snarky take on fairy tale retellings that shows great promise for future volumes.

Grimm 2.10: "The Hour of Death"

In my never-ending quest to get caught up with TV blogging, today I'm THRILLED to welcome my friend Tasha from Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books to talk about episode ten from this season of Grimm (and our mutual love of all things Renard-related).

After the short break from the "norm" for a spectacular special Halloween episode, Grimm made a fantastic return to form with the following episode. This show never fails to surprise and delight me. :) Going forward this season, I suspect there's a chance that this week marks the moment Nick begins to come undone -- his "Grimm" life and his "normal" life appear rapidly headed towards a collision course, and I for one cannot wait to see how that all plays out! This episode opens with Nick (David Giuntoli), still exiled to the living room sofa -- since apparently his house with Juliette only has ONE bedroom (does anyone think that is a realistic possibility?) -- haunted by dreams about his latest case involving a missing woman. Between the stress of the case and his less-than-ideal sleeping arrangements, Nick is getting a little testy -- and my only question is it took him THIS long? Guy has a LOT of patience. *wink*

Tasha: I loved the way this episode began by setting up the plot and the emotions of the characters through Nick’s trouble sleeping. He does have a lot of patience. Not only does he have to sleep on the couch IN HIS OWN HOUSE, Juliette treats him like a houseguest who won’t take the hint and leave. That’s cold. She and Renard may make a better couple than I first thought. I find it odd that they don’t have a spare bedroom (where was Mama Grimm sleeping when she was staying over, btw?), but I suppose the couch works as a metaphor. If they had a dog, Nick would no doubt be in the dog house.

I LOVE the idea of the couch as a metaphor! I think you're onto something with that! And all things considered I do think she started to check out of this relationship with Nick faster than I ever expected.

The following day (or the same day :) (not sure loL!) Nick and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are proceeding with the missing woman investigation, canvassing a local neighborhood for any clues. At the home of a skanky looking guy named Adrian (Michael Maize) burning photos of said woman in his stove (subtle, not), Nick raises the alarm and the aforementioned skanky guy transforms into a Schakal. Nick is clearly losing control as he lays into the guy, freaking poor Hank out and even the suspect, who for some reason thinks yelling about Nick wanting to kill him is going to divert suspicion from him (dude,  a tip, that is only gonna work if you have nothing to hide, which you most assuredly do not...). Unfortunately for Nick, the only concrete evidence burned in their suspect's stove -- so they are forced to release him.

Nick clearly gets pretty grouchy when he hasn’t had his beauty sleep. It seems like he’s been punching people in the face A LOT lately. If he doesn’t punch Renard at some point, I’m going to be hugely disappointed. Surely that's coming!!! I live in hope. :)

After Adrian's release, which sees him yelling about Nick wanting to kill him, Renard (Sasha Roiz) takes the opportunity to call Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) -- ostensibly because they are both SO CONCERNED about Nick (yeaaahhh, right *wink*). He suggests they meet for coffee, and Juliette agrees, because seriously what woman COULD resist the magnetic pull that is Renard in a sharp suit? Not I, just sayin'! :) How adorable is Renard on the phone? Like a nervous teenage guy calling a girl he really really likes for the first time. I CAN HARDLY STAND IT.

Haha, ye olde “Let’s get together to discuss your current boyfriend,” ploy. Renard really is like a teenager in those scenes. Although I don’t get Juliet; it’s like she doesn’t want to get all squeey (“He’s calling! He’s calling!”) so instead she just acts like cardboard. She’s playing her cards pretty close to her chest.

Agreed. :) Hopefully Tulloch will loosen up in scenes like this in the future...just a tick at the very least.

Meanwhile Nick has decided to go all Grimm on Adrian in order to extract a confession and asks Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) to whip up some truth serum to be injected via crossbow (because CLEARLY that is the best method...so subtle). I just have to ask, I'm sure Monroe's getting a cut of the spice shop profits while Rosalee is out of town, but how the heck is he making his mortgage payment and utility bills? Does clock repair on the side pay that well? Discuss. Anyways -- Nick heads to Adrian's house, and by this time it is dark, but he is very casual about carrying a FRIGGIN' CROSSBOW across the yard and breaking into his house, because that would be oh so easy to explain away (I jest). To his ever-lasting surprise, he finds his suspect #1 strung up and dead in the basement, covered with a mysterious brand. Continuing with the theme of freaking Hank out, Hank arrives to see Nick standing over Adrian's tortured body and thinks HOLY CRAP NICK'S FINALLY LOST IT. Thankfully at this point we get the sense that Nick is starting to realize that he *might* be on the verge of going off the rails -- but his resolve to become less suspicious is sorely tested when Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee) arrives on the scene with backup, prompted by a call from the now-dead Adrian where he confessed to the kidnapping. THE PLOT THICKENS!!!

Monroe probably invested in Whole Foods right when they started up and now he lives off a trust fund and just works more as a hobby. :) It certainly doesn’t seem like he spends a lot of time fixing clocks. Anyway, Nick better cool it or Hank’s not going to let him move in with him.

At this point I'm not sure that Nick and Hank's working relationship and friendship could survive being roommates, lol!

Source: grimmnbc.tumblr.com via Ruth on Pinterest

So, all's well that ends well for the kidnapped woman (years of therapy for the trauma aside of course), and that leaves Nick and Hank tasked with the mystery of uncovering the meaning behind the mysterious symbol burned all over Adrian's corpse. Not wanting a vigilante on his hands, Renard takes the info they have public during a televised press conference -- and to say the symbol creates quite a stir among the Wesen residents of Portland would be the understatement of the century. Both Monroe and Bud (Danny Bruno), the latter now even more nervous than normal, contact Nick when they recognize the symbol -- but it's Monroe that Nick and Hank turn to first for more info. The symbol is known in the Wesen world as the symbol of Endezeichen-Grimms, an ancient and much-feared branch of the Grimm family known for their merciless killing of Wesen. They are the "monsters" Wesen children learn of in their own book of cautionary tales -- "Albtraume fur Wesen Kinder." I LOVE the fact that the writers have chosen to flip the fairy tale mythos on its head, creating the Wesen equivalent of our traditional fairy tale mythology. It's a nice touch and one I hope is explored in greater depth in upcoming episodes of the show. The possibilities are endless!

I loved how Nick and Hank nodded through that whole explanation by Monroe as if the German words made perfect sense to them. “Albtraume für Wesen Kinder,” there’s a mouthful. Also, he just happens to have a copy of the book there even though he has NO KIDS?

Ha! Good point...maybe he's sentimental and its his copy from when he was a young Wesen...

The bloody "G" symbol means that someone is invading Nick's territory and isn't afraid of making a very public statement of intent. The danger to Nick is of course that he will be blamed for the attacks on Wesen -- while he has many Wesen friends, his good relations with them are certainly NOT the historical norm. Methinks this is a harbringer of difficult times to come for Nick -- no matter how close to "unhinged" he becomes, if he is going to maintain any semblance of a normal life in Portland he is going to have to be VERY careful how far he lets the Grimm within overtake him.

Nick’s not going to have a normal life, that went out the window when Aunt Marie died. I think this episode did do a good job of reminding us/Nick how fragile his credibility still is with the Wesen in Portland. He can’t really take the law into his own hands even if he wants to.

Renard being Renard, he of course recognizes the symbol and suspects that someone from "the family" has sent a Endezeichen-Grimm to Portland in a blatant power play. While this lead doesn't play out for the Captain, it leaves me DYING to know more about his own family dynamics. The writers are driving me crazy teasing out information about Renard's tension-fraught family and his own plans for power. GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WORK WITH PEOPLE!!

Back to the E-G investigation -- Adrian's killer calls Nick, confirming Monroe's suspicions that someone isn't happy with Nick's rather personable relations with the Wesen world thus far and is seeking to clean up what he perceives as Nick's shoddy messes. Making things more difficult for Nick, the killer's video of Adrian's murder goes viral overnight (SICK). In an attempt to tie up the case's loose ends, Nick and Hank interview the kidnapped woman who confirms that two men snatched her, and her description of the van they used leads to some handy-dandy security camera footage and another Schakal, who proceeds to freak out that Nick is going to kill him (clearly, clearly, this "G" makes Wesen lose any filter of self-preservation!). While Nick and Hank conduct this new interrogation, their forensics team discovers Donna's purse and wallet in the van, and her kidnappers are revealed to be the STUPIDEST CRIMINALS OF ALL TIME. While this evidence means essentially a slam-dunk conviction, their suspect manages to escape the precinct and in short order turns up dead covered in "G" brands. The rogue Grimm takes particular delight in taunting Nick over having once again succeeded where he perceives rank failure.

Haha, okay, at this point in the show, you know the G person has to be one of two people--either Ryan the Clumsy Intern, or the uniform officer who hangs out in the hallway for no reason and tells people things. “Where are the suspects?” “Oh, we had to let them go.” V e r y suspicious. But it’s more likely Ryan because there’s really no reason for him to be on this show other than to kill people.

I also want to say the ceilings in Nick’s house are AMAZING. Tri-colored trays? I bet Nick hand-painted that all himself. That’s hot. If he cooks, too, he should have no problems finding a new roommate. ;)

I could totally see Nick being very into house renovations... :)

But let's take a break from all this to talk about RENARD, more specifically Renard crushing on Juliette and their much-previewed coffee-talk scene. The LOOKS, oh he kills me...positively smoldering. *wink* Renard is all concern for her and Nick (yeah right...), and Juliette OF COURSE checks any common sense she may possess at the door and starts to open up -- and I can't say I blame her. There's even a telling slip where she states since the coma she's starting over with Renard instead of Nick...pretty sure he loved that. *wink* When Renard reaches out and TOUCHES HER HAND (I can barely type this as just RECALLING the moment is a bit overwhelming...ha!), she freaks out and leaves -- but leaves her sunglasses behind. The PERFECT excuse for a follow-up meeting. Well-played, Juliette, well-played. :)

What I loved most about that scene is that the entire time you can tell Renard’s thinking, “Don’t do it, DON’T DO IT,” and then he does it! *dies* How do you like that, Mr. Commanding Armani Suit Guy? Hmm, there might be a disturbing Fifty Shades of Grey tie-in there...

HA!! I'm dying over here... :)

Back to the whole, you know, murder investigation part of this episode (why oh why couldn't they have given me a WHOLE HOUR of Renard angst? Whatevs...). An extremely stressed-out Bud finally goes to the station and corners Nick for a one-on-one conversation about the fact that he is about to lose ALL the tenuous goodwill he's managed to accumulate among the Wesen community if the E-G killer isn't stopped ASAP (the "E-G killer"...I feel like I'm writing about an episode of Bones, LOL!). Reassured Bud leaves Nick to his work, who in short order is called over to Wu's desk where he's uncovered some disturbing surveillance footage. The second kidnapper is on film, aided in leaving the precinct by none other than RYAN THE SAPPY INTERN (Michael Grant Terry)!

I have to admit, people, that I did not see that one coming. Terry's previous two appearances on this show were SUCH throwaways, so pointless, in hindsight I should have realized that the writers had something worthwhile up their sleeves for a recognizable face like Terry's. Well done writers! IT ALL MAKES SENSE TO ME NOW!! After some quick research and an oddly pointless detour to Ryan's druggie mother's house (that was his mom, right?), the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place as they discover Ryan's cache of photos and articles about Nick -- this is a stalking case that has been in the works for months. They arrive in the nick of time (no pun intended) to save Bud from becoming Ryan's third victim -- and I have to tell you that seeing sweet lil' ol' Bud threatened like that stressed. me. OUT. As Ryan flees the scene he reveals himself to be not a Grimm as first suspected, but the MOST DISGUSTING WESEN EVER -- a Lebensauger, which is basically the NASTIEST LEECH you can imagine. *shivers* That said, i did think it was an interesting way to touch on what severe self-loathing and projection might look like in the Grimm/Wesen world. Also, I'm betting that this is just a preview to real Grimms-visit-Portland shenanigans that Nick is going to have to deal with at some point, if not this season than the next!

I totally saw it coming, sorry. But I did like how Ryan was revealed to be the killer. I was really worried Nick’s face would show up in that reflection by some odd quirk of fate, and I did NOT expect him to be a Wesen. Although who can blame him for wanting to be Nick, what with the painting skillz and all. But the real loser in this scenario was poor Sgt. Wu! See what happens when you take a kid under your wing--he turns out to be a psychopathic leech monster.

Go you! And you are right, poor Wu...needs to work on his people reading skills...

Source: nbc.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net via Ruth on Pinterest

Now, now I finally get to talk about my favorite five minutes perhaps ever on this show. *fangirl squeal* Renard stops by Juliette's house to drop off her sunglasses (it is all kinds of convenient that Nick is out on a case and he's just on his way home...ha!!). I love love LOVE seeing Renard all awkwardly flirty...it is TOO CUTE. I know, I KNOW his attraction to Juliette is all because of the pure heart potion, but I am DYING for this to become something real for him. Think of the angst! Think of the potential for SMOLDERING GLANCES!!! How will I survive it?! As they play the whole "it's late I/you should go" dance, he suddenly kisses Juliette -- and not only is that one of the most perfectly staged & filmed kisses EVER, but it also triggers a memory in Juliette of the kiss that woke her from her coma. "It was you" -- and without a word Renard kisses her AGAIN!!!! I cannot, CANNOT begin to tell you how much I LOVE THIS SCENE! When Juliette finally breaks the kiss and basically slams the door in Renard's face (it's okay, he's dazed too, ha!), she takes a page from my book and crumples to the floor in shock -- and this sets up fantastic tension between the two of them for the next two episodes, ending with the fall finale.

LOL You are too funny. I agree that I’d LOVE to see the spell/curse broken, with Juliet having no memories of Renard while he realizes he’d actually fallen in love with her. Ah, unrequited love! It will be so sweet. When Nick is sad on this show, I’m sad; but when Renard is all brooding and sad, I’m all like:

Bring it!

Um that is TOO PERFECT, you know how much I love Sleeping Beauty, right?!

ONE MORE Renard photo (I can't help myself):

Source: grimmnbc.tumblr.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Needless to say for the Renard moments alone this episode of Grimm ranks high on my favorites list. But I also appreciate the way in which the show surprised me by the reveal of Ryan's identity and the way it explored Nick essentially coming apart at the seams from the stress of his dual life. Reviews of the next two episodes coming soon!

I agree. Overall this was a very well-written and ambitious episode where they tried to show the emotional lives of the characters in creative ways. Really kind of like a mini-novel! 

Thanks so much for joining me in recapping this fantastic episode, Tasha!