Monday Mentions: Oops, I was Busy This Weekend

I feel pulled in a million different directions, and posting regularly is not at the top of my priorities. I love my blog, and I love my readers, but I'm also trying to figure out marriage, and make new friends, and keep up with my old friends, and enjoy the summer, and read books, and talk to my mom regularly, and organize meals for her, my dad, and younger brother long-distance (why my brother isn't doing this I DON'T KNOW).

That said, I did read stuff on the Internet last week. So I might be late with Sunday Shoutouts, but at least I can do some Monday Mentions. Here's the best of what I've read since last week!

Happy Bastille Day: For grammar nerds, knowing when to use "tu" and when to use "vous" is a nightmare. This handy chart explains the tricky nuances!

Most Uncomfortable Juxtaposition: As an awareness campaign for intimate partner violence, an artist rendered Disney princesses as women physically abused by their significant others. If the wording of any of that is weird to you, that's because I don't like the phrases "domestic violence" and "battered women." 

Best Historical Figure: So I've started following a tumblr on "Rejected Disney Princesses." I love this post which details all the evil things one countess did... And then provides the argument that it was all a smear campaign. I love history!

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Book Club Friday: Princess Series (Books Three and Four)

I just got back Monday evening from a wonderful long weekend in Denver, during which my second cousin got married and his parents threw a big party the next day to celebrate multiple events, including their 35th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful holiday, during which I was able to spend quality time with both Beau and with many family members who I rarely see. Beau and I kept our bodies on Eastern time for most of the trip, so we were up early every morning, without much to do. I used the time to catch up on my reading, and I finally finished the last of the Princess Series!

If you remember back a few weeks ago, I reviewed the first two books of the Princess Series, The Stepsister Scheme and The Mermaid's Madness, by Jim C. Hines. Today I will conclude the all-too-short series by reviewing the last two books, Red Hood's Revenge and The Snow Queen's Shadow. 

  

From the book/website: 

Roudette’s story was a simple one. A red cape. A wolf. A hunter. 

Her mother told her she would be safe, so long as she kept to the path. But sometimes the path leads to dark places. 

Roudette is the hunter now, an assassin known throughout the world as the Lady of the Red Hood. Her mission will take her to Arathea and an ancient fairy threat. At the heart of the conflict between humans and fairies stands the woman Roudette has been hired to kill, the only human ever to have fought the Lady of the Red Hood and survived: 

The princess known as Sleeping Beauty.

Although Hines reveals details about all three princesses throughout the series, the first two books are more about Danielle than Talia or Snow. In this book, the princesses end up in Talia's homeland, a desert kingdom called Arathea. Hines also introduces a new--and slightly terrifying--character, Roudette, the Lady of the Red Hood. Oh, and religion is a side plot, and human magic is apparently sinful while fairy magic is good... 

Yeah, there's definitely a lot going on in this book, but it's still as kickass as its predecessors. 

From the book/website: 

A broken mirror. A stolen child. A final mission to try to stop an enemy they never dreamed they would face.

When a spell gone wrong shatters Snow White’s enchanted mirror, a demon escapes into the world. The demon’s magic distorts the vision of all it touches, showing them only ugliness and hate. It is a power which turns even friends and lovers into mortal foes, one which will threaten humans and fairies alike.

And the first to fall under the demon’s power is the princess Snow White.

This is the bittersweet conclusion to the series. 

It did not end the way I expected. 

I might have definitely cried. And then I might have felt like hitting something, but I didn't go that far. 

Just like the first two books focused on Danielle, and the third on Talia, this one focuses on Snow. Hines tells us more about her childhood and her wintery homeland, Allesandria. 

We also learn more about Jakob, Danielle's son, which was one of the most interesting revelations in the book. (And also why I hope Hines returns to this series one day).

Without trying to give away much of the plot, what really struck me with this book were the ethical questions I asked myself. The demon affects anyone it touches, and those people all turn on the princesses, fighting them, trying to kill them. So much bloodshed occurs in this book, but unlike in the previous novels, when the enemies "had it coming," I felt very unsettled by the "enemies" injured and killed. And it made me think about soldiers who fight for their country, even if they don't always agree with what they're doing. I've become more and more of a pacifist in my old age, and this book partly reaffirmed that. 

Anyway, the four books are all brilliant, and as happy as I am to have read them, I'm sad the series is over. The ending is certainly fitting, and I understood why Hines ended it on this note, but I was still very sad about it. I just really like happy endings, with everyone alive, and paired off in love. But that only happens in Disney movies, not in brilliant adaptations of fairy tales.

Once again, I'm linking up for Book Club Friday!

Book Club Friday: Princess Series (Books One and Two)

If you've ever checked out the books in my library, and then also clicked on my Fantasy Fiction Recommendations, then you've possibly seen my brief mention of the Princess Series by Jim C. Hines. I read the first three books in the quartet two summers ago. Last fall, I finally had the opportunity to buy all four of them, but only recently have I had the time to reread the first three to prepare to read the fourth.

In a nutshell, Hines has taken the classic stories of Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty and completely turned them upside down and inside out. Instead of three passive princesses waiting for their princes to come, these three women routinely go on dangerous missions for the queen.

This week, I will review The Stepsister Scheme and The Mermaid's Madness. Later I will review Red Hood's Revenge and The Snow Queen's Shadow.

  

Images via goodreads.

From the book/website:

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.

Obviously, I loved this book, and not just because kickass princesses are my favorite. It's an exciting story with moral shades of gray, AND Hines writes a surprising twist about Talia's character, revealed near the end. Any retold fairy tale will have its fair share of twists, but this particular one is extra-feminist... I love the different rules involved with magic and spells, the different kinds of fairies, the world-building, everything. 

From the book/website:

There is an old story — you might have heard it — about a young mermaid, the daughter of a king, who saved the life of a human prince and fell in love.
 
So innocent was her love, so pure her devotion, that she would pay any price for the chance to be with her prince. She gave up her voice, her family, and the sea, and became human. But the prince had fallen in love with another woman.

The tales say the little mermaid sacrificed her own life so that her beloved prince could find happiness with his bride.

The tales lie.

In this book, Hines adds another fairy tale to the mix, that of the Little Mermaid. We all know the Disney version is sanitized, but Hines's retelling is even darker than the original tale. The undine (mermaid) princess Lirea kills her human prince and then succumbs to madness.

Another brilliant book full of twists and turns, not to mention a lot of unresolved sexual tension. Also figuring out the real villain... Lirea is a murderer, but she's also crazy... What made her this way?

I highly recommend these books to anyone who loves fantasy fiction, retold fairy tales, or strong female characters. If you're like me, you love all three, and these books are pure perfection!

As usual, I'm linking up for Book Club Friday!

Belle, the Disney Princess

You know who you remind me of, Belle? 

A Disney princess.

This is hands-down the best compliment I’ve ever received.

I know this might seem unusual coming from such an outspoken feminist, but I can’t help it. I love all things Disney, and all things princessy. Disney princesses are the best.

With my tiara and fan in Toronto

I’m obviously aware that the earlier Disney princesses aren’t the best of role models for little girls, and most critiques of my favorite princess (Belle, duh) suggest she suffers from Stockholm syndrome. The earlier Disney princesses are very passive, and even the later Disney princesses mostly end up married… to men, of course. Disney is very heteronormative.

via pink-martini on tumblr, created prior to Tangled or Brave

 

But does that mean there isn’t a place for Disney princesses in little girls’ and even grown women’s lives?