Skip to content
  • what’s happening?

this ain't livin'

stillness is a lie, my dear

Tag: retellings

5 June, 201624 March, 2016

Book review: The Star-Touched Queen, Roshani Chokshi

The Milky Way spanning the sky at night.
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

Roshani Chokshi’s debut YA novel is bloodthirsty, strange, fragile, wonderful, and complex, integrating Indian folklore alongside fantastical elements in a thrilling read.

Read More
27 March, 201612 January, 2016

Book review: The Steep and Thorny Way, Cat Winters

A person holding a skull. Another person reaches from behind to grasp the subject's chest.
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

Disclosure: This review is based upon a copy provided by the publisher. No other consideration was offered. Hamlet is probably one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, though it’s not in strict point of fact my favourite — I’m a fan of The Tempest and Much Ado if I have my druthers. But Hamlet has become an extremely important part of the Western […]

Read More
13 March, 201622 December, 2015

Book Review: The Forbidden Wish, Jessica Khoury

A person walking along the edge of a sand dune.
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

Disclosure: This review is based upon a copy provided by the publisher. No other consideration was offered.  The story of Aladdin and his lamp is perhaps one of the most well-known myths attributed to the 1,001 Nights, although in fact the story doesn’t appear in original Middle Eastern versions of the story collection, and it […]

Read More
3 January, 201621 October, 2015

Book review: A Song for Ella Grey, David Almond

Snakes twining around a female figure on the cover of A SONG FOR ELLA GREY.
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

Disclosure: This review is based upon a copy of the book provided by the publisher. No other consideration was offered, although it (the book, not the publisher) did give me a vicious paper cut. Just when I think we’re done with retellings, another one gleefully crops up, and I’m not really complaining — all stories […]

Read More
25 October, 201511 August, 2015

Book review: About A Girl, by Sarah McCarry

Two girls kissing on the cover of ABOUT A GIRL
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

The conclusion to Sarah McCarry’s fantastic Metamorphoses Trilogy came out in July, and while I am bitter that I won’t get to play with these characters again, I’m really excited to see what she comes out with next, so it’s really more of a bittersweet sensation. Appropriate for this series, which has a very bittersweet […]

Read More
18 October, 201531 July, 2015

Book review: Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, April Genevieve Tucholke, Ed.

The cover of SLASHER GIRLS AND MONSTER BOYS featuring a grimacing monster and a smear of blood
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

Disclosure: This review is based upon a copy provided by the publisher. No other consideration was offered.  When I pulled Slasher Girls & Monster Boys out of my mailbox, I gave an involuntary squeak of excitement. It features some of my favourite YA authors, spanning those who work in a variety of genres including, of course, horror, […]

Read More
2 August, 201530 May, 2015

Book review: The Wrath & the Dawn, Reneé Ahdieh

A book cover featuring a woman behind a latticed screen
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

Disclosure: This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher.  Someone at Penguin clearly reads my thoughts because their office kindly sent this book along at precisely the moment I was wanting to read it, thanks to the buzz building up around the title. I was promised a fascinating and compelling retelling of an […]

Read More
17 May, 201518 February, 2015

Book review: Sparrow Hill Road, Seanan McGuire

The cover of SPARROW HILL ROAD, featuring a girl leaning on a classic car
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

We all know that I have a fascination for dead things that some people think borders on the inordinate. I also love fiction featuring death-related subjects. And I particularly adore dark humour. Which would be why I love books like Six Feet Over It, and television series like Dead Like Me. They’re funny. They’re also about death and dying, but […]

Read More
15 February, 201527 January, 2016

Book Review: Stitching Snow, by R. C. Lewis

My copy of STITCHING SNOW by R.C. Lewis
Posted in reviews by s.e. smith

As we know, I adore fairytale retellings, and I’m pretty stoked that they’re becoming a bigger and bigger thing right now, especially in the YA world. There’s much to explore in these tales, passed down and tweaked and expanded and shrunk over generations as our tastes, tolerances, and beliefs change. I love it when writers […]

Read More
7 February, 201513 November, 2014

Seeing Home Through the Lens of Pop Culture

Sunset over the ocean at Pudding Creek Beach
Posted in pop culture by s.e. smith

Last year, I started watching, and greatly enjoying, Gracepoint, the US remake of Broadchurch. Usually I don’t much fancy remakes, as the original is often much better, and it just seems kind of pointless to water a show down to make it fit into the US television box. However, in this case, I found myself making an exception, for […]

Read More

Posts navigation

Older posts
↑
copyright: s.e. smith | theme: imrohan's hexo