Gilded by Marissa Meyer (Gilded #1)

Hey guys!
Let’s kick off a month of book reviews with an amazing novel I picked up recently: Gilded by Marissa Meyer. I fell in love with the cover and was more than excited by the premise of the story!

Gilded on Goodreads

The Plot (according to Goodreads):

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller’s daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda’s outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her . . . for a price.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever. 

The Rating:

Oh man I loved this. We all know that I’m a sucker for a good fairytale retelling, so this was 100% down my alley. I was so heartbroken when I found out that this is a duology and the second book isn’t out yet. I legit thought it was a standalone! So, I’m both happy to read more and sad to wait for it.

Anyway, let’s talk about the story. I absolutely adore the idea that stories somehow become flesh, that you drag what you speak into existence. While this is not exactly what is going on in the story, this is the underlying vibe and I think it showcases nicely how magical stories and books can be. Certainly, something every avid reader can relate to!

Movie Mania: Hansel and Gretel – Witch Hunters

Hey Guys!
There seems to have been a bit of a boom on those fantasy action horror type of thing movies in the last years. I already review The Last Witch Hunter and Dracula Untold. I figured Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters fits in very well in this line of films, so let’s check it out.

 

The Plot:
The title already says it all: After Hansel and Gretel defeated the evil witch they somehow had to make a living. The siblings ended up as witch exterminators for hire!

 

The Rating:
I remember reading a genre description for this film that went as follows: dark fantasy action horror comedy movie. That’s five different things there. Did anybody really believe that this could work?
There were a couple of doubts before I started watching and turns out I was right.

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Hey guys!
Today is book review day. The one I chose this time is a novel by Marissa Meyer, I’ve read tons of good stuff about it and the blogosphere seems to be in love with the entire series, so I finally decided to give Cinder, part 1 of The Lunar Chronicles, a shot!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer – Cover from Goodreads

 

The Plot:
Cinder is a 16-year-old Cyborg living in New Beijing. Loathed by her stepmother, she works as a mechanic to earn the family’s income. Her life is about to change when Prince Kai, soon-to-be emperor, visits her shop and asks her to repair his android. Cinder gets pulled into something she didn’t think she was part of, but believe me, she was wrong…

 

The Rating:
It’s incredibly hard to pull of fairy-tale retellings. Most of those end up a cheesy copy, unimaginative or simply weird. However, Marissa Meyer surprised me by kicking off The Lunar Chronicles with a fascinating modern version of Cinderella.
One of the reasons this works so well is because Marissa Meyer doesn’t attempt to stick too closely to the original story. There are many moments where she hints at something but still strays far enough from the fairy-tale to deliver something completely new.

Top 5 Non-Disney Animated Movies (Fairy-Tale Edition)

Hey Guys!
After I did a post on my favourite non-Disney films, I decided to give an extra ramble on the best animated fairy-tales! I went through my Video collection and picked the very best ones!
Let’s see what’s worth checking out!

 

#5 The Swan Princess:
This one is really interesting as I had never heard of the fairy-tale before. Princess Odette is turned into a swan by an evil magician who wants to become king himself. So we get some cute side-kick animals and a nice story with a little dash of magic!

 

#4 The Secret of NIMH:
Dark one. The Mouse Mrs. Brisby has to move her home as the farmer will soon start plowing the field it’s located in. However, he youngest son falls ill and many problems arise. Many aspects are covered in this film, from experiments with animals to death, it’s a fascinating one.

Book vs. Movie: Stardust

Hey guys!

Today’s book vs. movie is about something truly magical. I’ve already seen the film Stardust several times (not only because I adore Claire Danes) but so far never had the time to check out the novel by Neil Gaiman. Recently I was roaming the book shelves of my favourite library and stumbled upon a copy!

 

 

The Plot:
Tristan lives in a boring little village which lies next to something not so ordinary.
When Tristan and his beloved Victoria watch a star fall, he makes the foolish promise to find the star and bring it back to her. So he travels beyond the wall, and discovers Yvaine, a beautiful young woman, who turns out to be the star!
Soon it turns out Tristan wasn’t the only one looking for and for the stone that knocked her out of the sky…

Christmas Movie Mania: The Nutcracker Prince

Hey Guys!
Only 2 more weeks left before it’s finally Christmas. So it’s definitely time to check out some movies for the holidays. Today’s film, The Nutcracker Prince, is one of my childhood favourite. I’ve seen it so often, it’s a wonder the video cassette is still intact 😀

 

The Plot:
It’s Christmas time in Germany and the Clara and her brother receive the most wonderful gifts. Their slightly weird uncle Drosselmeier built a fully automated castle that is simply magical. However, for Clara he has one more thing in store: a nutcracker. Drosselmeier tells her a story about her gift: The Nutcracker is actually his nephew. The mouse queen cast a spell on him for saving the Princess Pirlipat from the mice.
However, it soon turns out that Drosselmeier wasn’t joking. The mouse king returns to kill the Nutcracker. In order to defeat him, Clara has to join forces with the Nutcracker in the land of dolls…