***Spoilers***
Whatever you feel about the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows there was a sense that it was a beginning of a story and not an end like we thought. The play in two parts, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the continuation of Harry’s story starting right at the epilogue. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione are taking their children to the Hogwarts Express at the start of a new school year. Albus Severus Potter, Harry and Ginny’s middle child is full of anxiety over many things but most of all of being the son of Harry Potter. How can he possible live up to the legend of Harry Potter, who with his friends saved the wizarding world? On the Hogwarts Express, Albus meets another new student who also has to deal with shadow of his parent, Scorpius Malfoy. Without giving away more spoilers less just say that Albus has Harry stubbornness and his penchant to dive right in without thinking of the consequences. He and Scorpius travel back and time but they truly didn’t think about all the possible outcomes and well drama unfolds. We see everyone struggle, from trying to find their place in the world to how to relate to their children. I was able to understand Albus frustrations but I didn’t like him as I did with Harry. Honestly, the best character in the play of Scorpius. He was funny, optimistic and kind. Pretty much the opposite of Draco from the books. He had Ron’s heart and Hermione’s brain. He was the perfect friend for Albus. Harry is older but not necessarily wiser. Hermione was great as always and Ron was great too. While it was great to revisit the Wizarding World and Harry I think I’m ready to let go of them. It was a beautiful story and the ending was heartbreaking. I really want to see it performed because there are many things that happen that I’m not sure how they do on stage. Like when a couple of characters take polyjuice potion and change into other characters on stage. That’s just one example. I really hope this comes to Broadway or it’s get filmed because I don’t think I’ll be making it to London anytime soon.
A world without books sounds terrible. Who would ever want to live like that. I know there are people in this world who can read but choose not and it’s baffling but that has nothing to do with this book. Books can really change a life. For Sefia, her life was simple until her father is murdered and she is forced to go on the run with her Aunt Nin. For years, her parents have been hiding a mysteriously item and people are hunting down Sefia and Nin for it. When Nin gets kidnapped, Sefia finally decides it’s time to find out what she’s carrying and why people murdered her father and how she can get Nin back. It is a book. It tells her. In Sefia’s journey she is joined by another orphan, Archer and pirates. Meanwhile there are dual narratives of Lon, an apprentice to the Master Librarian. A secret society that is tasked with gathering all the knowledge of the world and controlling it. They spend their time recopying texts from one manuscript to another and learning to see people’s pasts in vision. Lon proves to be a fast learner and with the help of the Second, a assassin apprentice he begins to see things are not as they seem. We also meet Captain Reed and his crew first in Sefia’s book and then for real. At first it was confusing with all these story lines going on at the same time. I could tell that they were all meant to tie together but it just didn’t jive. I started to guess that one of the story lines wasn’t happening at the same time as the others and then things started to make sense for me. It was an exciting first book to a new series. Sefia is strong and resourceful. She is resolute in finding the ones she loves. She teaches herself how to read and discovers the secret of the book. Archer has an equally tragic backstory. Taken from his family at a young age, he is raised in violence and forced to fight to the death. It’s all mixed with tension and intrigued. I can’t wait to read the next one.
For a superhero who has outlasted all by Superman, Batman and Captain America, she doesn’t get the recognition she deserves. She was created to inspire young woman to take up their rightful place in society as her creator William Moultan Marston once stated that in the next 1,000 years, Woman will rule the world. He wanted a superhero that embody female strength can be just as strong as any man if not stronger. To truly understand Wonder Woman and her place in history, you really have to know who origins and the man (and the women who inspired) who created her. William Moultan Marston was an heir to a family with a long history. An only child who was doted on by his mother and four aunts. His wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, was just as educated as he was and was often the breadwinner of the family and his other wife, Olive Byrne (yep, he had two wives) was once his student and the caretaker. He was a lawyer and academic. He invented the lie detector. He wrote screenplays and worked for Universal Studios during the earlier days of Hollywood. He was a little bit of everything and a little bit of a mess. He failed as more then he succeeded but all of it culminated in creating Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth was an extension of his life work of seeking truth through his own lie detector machine and research. Wonder Woman’s bracelets were inspired by his second wife’s, Olive Byrne,bracelet that she wore instead of a wedding ring. Speaking of Olive she was the niece of Margaret Sanger. Champion for birth control and founder of Planned Parenthood. Feminism was strong in the family. Actually the suffragist movement very much influenced Wonder Woman as the stories and imagery can be seen all over the the early Wonder Woman comic book. This was a very easy read that goes into the great detail of William Marsters life and highlight moments in his life that he drew upon to create his Amazonian. It may take a while before you get the actual creation of Wonder Woman but Jill Lepore does a great job of showcasing how people, situations and politics would influence Moultan Marsters and how they ended up in his work. How an old professor turned into Dr. Psycho. Or how the art of Lou Rogers inspired story lines. How the likes of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady shaped Wonder Woman’s character and how his own wives and children breathed life into her as well. Sadly, it also shows how the Wonder Woman changed after Marster’s death. Like many women after World War Two, Wonder Woman was forced back into the kitchens even if it went against her origins. She may have gone completely by the wayside if it wasn’t for Women’s movement in the 60’s and 70’s but even then she wasn’t the same. It’s sad to see that many of the issues that Wonder Woman faced in the late 30’s and 40’s we are still facing today. The criticism of her is still charged against many female protagonist of any genre. Progress has been made but we are still so much to go. You to like this book you don’t know need to know anything about Wonder Woman or even comics to enjoy it. You just need to have an appreciation for a good story and kick ass woman.
***Spoilers Ahead***
Let’s be honest this series is nothing but fluff, not that is a bad thing or anything. We all need a little fluff in our lives. It was entertaining but I’m glad that this was the final book because I’m not sure what more they could do. That being said it was definitely left open for a spin off series. The mermaids or merls (I’m not going to miss the cutesy sea inspired words) have finally regrouped with their talismans and take out Sera’s uncle and the evil mage Orfeo and his monster. Sera, Neela, Ava, Ling, Becca and Astrid have all overcome their own trials to get to this point and worked together to win. Astrid had the biggest arc of the ladies. She started off as standoffish and refused to help but after being shown kindness from the other girls, she knows that she has to help. She sets off to find Orfeo in hopes of getting his talisman. She expects to hate him but she finds that she starts to like him. He does something that no one has been able to. Give her back her magic and her pride. He shows her the love and caring that has been denied to her since she lost the ability to sing. Will she turn against her new friends? Of course not but there were times that I really couldn’t blame her if she did. Sera grew from a girl fearful of not living up to her mother’s standard to true leader. Becca learned to give up some control and trust others to help. The others helped but had little to do throughout the series. So yes it was fluff and not the greatest story of all time but it had it’s moments. Anyone looking for a series to read on their summer vacation this isn’t a bad pick, as long as you don’t mind all the cutesy words.
I think this is really more a political drama then anything else. Kiersten White re-imagines the origins of Vlad the Impaler as if he had been born a Lada, a girl, rather then a boy. Lada is fierce, passionate and ruthless. She is far more interested in fighting and ruling then she is anything else. From a young age, she knows that she will never be taken seriously as a girl unless she is the smarter, faster and stronger then those around here and does everything she can to make it that way. When she and her brother are left as hostages to the Ottoman Empire as a way to secure their father’s throne of Wallachia, she becomes enraged of her lack of power. Felt betrayed by her father for leaving her there, where any misstep by him, forfeits their lives. She uses her time to learn all that she can from her Ottoman captors to use in her vengeance one day. Things go a little sideways when Lada and Radu meet Mehmed, the son of the Sultan. He becomes their friend and third point to their triangle. Radu is the polar opposite to Lada. While she is strong and aggressive, he’s quiet and conservative. He has the charisma that Lada lacks. Lada has the strength that Radu lacks. They are not the closets of siblings but they are all each other has so when push comes to shove, they are there for each other.
I can sum up how I felt about this book with one word. Meh. Is that a word? It started off slow but eventually picked up and I became interested but well meh. It wasn’t that it was bad. I just thought it would be better. Maybe that’s because both Maggie Stiefvater and Rick Riordan, two authors who I love gave it such high praise on Goodreads that I had higher expectations for it. So what’s it about? Every 10 years the Dragon comes down from his tower and takes one girl back with him. The Dragon is the Lord of the Valley and a wizard, not an actual dragon as some stories say he is. The girls he takes always come back changed but never say what they did while they lived in the tower. The people continue to do this because the Dragon helps defend them from the mysterious Wood that lies just beyond the Valley. The Wood has a very mysterious evil about it that corrupts all that come in contact with it. 
**Spoilers**
This is book 7 in a wildly entertaining series. Nick is fantastic as always with his wit and charm (he thinks he’s charming). He can annoy even the most demonic of demons. I love him. If you haven’t read any of these books, check out my 
So this is the final book in the series. I think. I thought the same thing about the The One but I think this is really it. I am grateful that this was only a duology and not a trilogy because while it was entertaining I feel it also ran it’s course. I liked that it flipped the original plot on it’s head by having the Princess being the one to choose instead of being one of the choices. Eadlyn, the Princess of Iliea is faced with many challenges for one being unliked by her people. She is thought of as being cold and standoffish and inexperienced and she is a little bit of all of that but what stuck me is that this is the same criticism that many women in power have faced. What I didn’t like about this book is that despite all of the self affirming moments in this book. She finds that she is stronger then she thought. She gains new perspective on not just her life but that of her peoples but in the end, it’s about who she is going to marry. That is the whole point of the Selection. To find the Princess a husband. In the first book, the selection was supposed to be a distraction and by the King more time to figure out how to handle the unrest but as the selection went on, it became more about making her more likable and then how to secure her crown when an outside threat emerges. Sort of Spoilerish but not really, I think we all knew she was going to find her true love but I really wished that by end she would realize that she didn’t have to actually get engaged. That she could find her soul mate and say this is man I am going to marry some day but right now, I’m still a teenager and I want to live a little before I settle down. That would have been a kick ass ending but this is a sort of fairy tale so you know. I don’t want you all to think I didn’t enjoy this book or the series as a whole because I did but I think it could have been so much more. And for what’s it’s worth, the guy she picked was my pick too so there is that. I’ll be interested to read what Kiera Cass does to follow this one up.
2 Women, So Many Books 