Ashleigh's Bookshelf

Stalks of Gold by Celeste Baxendell Aurelia is the humble daughter of the village miller who possesses a certain talent for the spinning wheel. Although she does not know many people, her best friend Sandor has always been there for her. But, Sandor has never told Aurelia his biggest secret. Before he can, the king arrests her, locking her in the tower and ordering her to spin straw into gold. While Sandor races to free her, Aurelia turns to the only other person who has shown her friendship, the mysterious stranger who appeared on her doorstep only days earlier. Can he help her to survive? A wonderful blend of Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel, this dual-narrative story is an interesting reinterpretation of the classic fairy tales. I especially appreciated how the main characters were constantly acknowledging their own flaws. While I found the characters well-developed and enjoyed watching them grow, there were a few places where I would have liked to see more....

Year 1: Renegade A supernatural academy book for teens by Tamara Hart Heiner Unlike the teenagers who have just arrived at the Guardian Angel Academy, Jez has not just completed her life on earth. She is a transfer student, wingless and bound by chains. While her instructors think she is trying to learn how to become a Guardian, she is actually on a mission from her master. This book is difficult to review without spoilers, but I will do my best. I really enjoyed watching Jez grow throughout the book. In addition to her book knowledge, she learned about relationships and emotions. The story begins a little slow, with a lot of worldbuilding information, but after the first chapter it really picks up. The book could also have used one more proofreading pass, as I found numerous typographical and grammatical errors. However, most of the time they were not enough to detract from the overall story. This story centers around relationships and I liked watchin...

To Ride a Unicorn Vanessa Westgate A delightful step-by-step guide to catching a wild unicorn. Although I selected this book to read with my young children, I found myself enjoying it as well. The narrator provides exciting, fascinating directions to catching a unicorn in a wild, even including how to ride one. The dialogue felt natural and the story was engaging. My only "complaint", if you can even all it that, is when the unicorn is hiding. My children, even my three-year-old, love to find hidden pictures. In several instances, however, the unicorn was in plain sight. My children would have preferred looking for the unicorn instead. Overall, however, I truly enjoyed this story. I would rate this story four and a half quills and place it on my top shelf.

The One Great Gnome by Jeff Dinardo illustrated by Jhon Ortiz When eleven-year-old Sarah is transplanted from New York City to rural Connecticut, she has no idea how she will survive. Never could she have imagined that a garden gnome come to life would lead her to an underground adventure to save the entire gnome race. I listened to the audiobook version of this story and absolutely loved the addition of sound effects to enhance the story. Looking at the printed version, I saw the addition of illustrations with the text as well. I thought these nice additions. However, while my seven-year-old daughter found this story enjoyable, I had a difficult time getting into the story. Although it is geared toward a younger audience, I was frustrated by the overuse of dialogue tags and, at least in the second half of the story, the near absent use of pronouns, leading to names being repeated many times in a short period. An example of thi...

Of Wicked Blood Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz Slate has lived a difficult life, shuffled from one horrible foster home to another, earning a living as a con man an thief. When someone offers him a full scholarship in Brume if he claims his inheritance, he doesn't see the harm in swindling one more person. Until he puts on a ring that won't come off, setting off a series of tasks that will result in his death if he or his crew fails. Cadence has spent her entire life in Brume and knows all the stories, but she's never been sure whether magic is real. Until a mysterious boy shows up with the ring he stole from her mother's grave. If she doesn't help him, magic will be lost forever. Is she willing to take that risk? Let me start by saying that I really did like this book and am looking forward to the next one. However, it was incredibly difficult to read. It took a long time to get to the heart of the story. While the descriptions are ex...

The Frights of Fiji by Sunayna Prasad Due to the tragic death of her parents five years ago, twelve-year-old Alyssa lives with her mean uncle. But, her world is about to change because of magic. One day, she receives a note telling her so. While I liked the concept of this story, I was not impressed in its execution. I had a difficult time finishing the book. The writing was very juvenile and the editing poor. I had trouble relating to the characters and did not feel any sense of "I want to know what happens next." While some of the storyline and worldbuilding felt ripped from Harry Potter, other parts made little sense to me, despite the fact that everything felt over-explained. Overall, I would rate this story three quills and place it on my bottom shelf.