This week I finished both the books I mentioned I had started in my last check in! The Fire Keeper by J.C. Cervantes and The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert.
The Fire Keeper is based on Maya legends and is a middle grade book meant to give representation. It’s part of the Rick Riordan Presents collection, which I’ve talked about in several of my previous check-ins. This is the second in a series.
The Hazel Wood is a story based
in fairy tales. It follows Alice, whose grandmother wrote a cult classic
collection of fairy tales. When the grandmother dies, Alice and her
mother think they might finally be free of their bad luck curse, and try
and settle down, but the bad luck catches up in the form of Alice’s
mother being kidnapped. Alice has no choice but to turn to a fan of her
grandmother to try and find answers, and her mother.
Reviews below the cut!
Rick Riordan Presents is a collection of books that focus on bringing representation to kids. The Storm Runner saga is focused on Maya legends. The main character, Zane, is the son of a Maya god. This book is fast paced adventure, very much on a middle school level. It is lighthearted, and the darkness and drama is often offset with a joke. I thought this book was alright, I thought the characters were fun, even if a little cliched. The plot was interesting, and had a few twists that were unexpected, but most were predictable. All in all, pretty good, and I think middle schoolers would have a lot of fun with it. One thing I also appreciate is that in the mythos of this world, the powers of godborns comes from them having some sort of ‘imperfection’. Zane’s is that one leg is shorter than the other, so he has a limp and walks with a cane. Another godborn has “trances” where she goes catatonic. I think it’s a fun detail that their powers come from something that would be seen by most of the world as a negative, and I love that it’s an extra facet of representation in these books.
3/5 stars. I’d like it more if I were still in middle school, but as an adult some of the cliches are hard to get past.
I really really liked The Hazel Wood. I whipped through it. I stayed up till 3am last night because I was at the climax and couldn’t put it down. The characters in this story are very complex and flawed and feel real. Some of the fairy tales from Alice’s grandmother’s book are told in the novel, and they’re super interesting. Very dark, similar to Grimm tales. This book is full of twists that were very unexpected. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it! It had a very satisfying ending.
5/5 stars! I love fairy tales. This might be one of my favorite books from the year!
I
started 2 new books: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin and Anne of
Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I read an abridged version of Anne of
Green Gables when I was a kid, but I don’t think I ever read the whole
thing. I’m actually listening to it as an audiobook this time, because I’m working a weird shift by myself to stay safe with COVID, so I have a lot of silence to fill.
As always, you can see all the books I’ve read on my reading list.
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