Weekend Recommendations #33

This is a weekly feature, where I get to go all fannish about two randomly-picked favvies (which may not actually be favorites, but got a rating of 3 or more strawberries) that I would recommend to friends!

Title: Cruel Beauty

Author: Rosamund Hodge

Genre: fairy tale retelling

Part of a Series: No

Rating: 4 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Girl-read, seventeen-and-up, great for fans of fairy tale retellings, Greek mythology, romance, and fantasy.

Why I Liked It:

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite retellings. Not because of its message of how it's what's inside a person that matters (though that is, of course, a wonderful message), but because it's one of the more plotted-out ones. And Beast's house is just awesome. This is one of the most gorgeous retellings I have ever read. Rich in descriptions and character development, full of tragedy and dark humor, and deeply intriguing, I loved practically everything about it - especially its references to Greek mythology. It isn't a retelling for everyone. Readers seem to either love it or not care for it all that much. Some don't get the romance - and it is a hard one to appreciate. The characters are very flawed, but I felt that it was a romance that grew with the story into a very deep relationship. Other Readers didn't understand the world, and it's a weird world to wrap one's mind around. But I enjoyed seeing it unfold.

Title: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Author: Karen Foxlee

Genre: fantasy

Part of a Series: No

Rating: 3 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Girl-and-boy read, ten-and-up, great for fans of children's fantasy - or what I like to call "children's whimsy" - like Kate DiCamillo's The Magician's Elephant.

Why I Liked It:

I love "children's whimsy" - those Middle Grade reads that are generally pretty short, but are full of the fantastical, but don't quite fit into the fantasy genre. There's magical things, but the stories are more like a dream than fantasy. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is a fairly short read, full of whimsy and charm and magic, has great characters, and an even greater adventure. I loved it.