Wonderland Reads - June 2016

cover images from Goodreads

Oh, hey, dear reader! :)

It's been awhile since I've done a book wrap-up (specifically, its been since last July). So, I want to repurpose my book wrap-up series and call it "Wonderland Reads."

Now, I only finished one book this month (as work has me really busy these days), but I'm really glad I jumped back into novel reading. As a bonus, I'm going to include the book I'm currently reading in this post. I'm not going to review it in full yet, but I'm going to share some preliminary thoughts with you.

Without further ado, let's get into this past month's Wonderland Reads!

What I finished: Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell

I'm a huge Disney fan. I'm also a huge fairy tale fan. So, finding about Liz Braswell's Twisted Tales series was pretty exciting, and finding out that it was based off the Disney movies - even being published by Disney Hyperion, so I knew it was approved - was definitely even more so.

The story plays with the idea of what would happen if the Prince fell asleep too and the Princess never woke up. The entirety of the story actually takes place in Aurora's mind, and it's up to her to use the memories she has of her waking life to guide her back, along with fighting and defeating Maleficent once and for all.

Imagine my disappointment when the story not only drastically differed from the original Disney movie in a bad way, but the characters weren't even reminiscent of their movie counterparts. Aurora was incredibly whiny and cynical, which is incredibly opposite from the Disney movie. I mean, in the movie, she's optimistic, actually falling in love with Prince Phillip at first sight, and she's heartbroken when she hears that she's betrothed to a prince, all while unbeknownst to her, Phillip from the forest is said prince. Now, she might be pretty one-note as a character, but at least it's a good story.

I actually felt sorry for Prince Phillip. He was nothing but sweet, and he truly adored Aurora, even through her constant yelling at him. Part of it is her letting out anger and frustration at Maleficent for trapping her in her own dreams, but part of it is also her questioning why she even fell in love with Prince Phillip at first sight. In addition to all this were unnecessary character deaths and an ending that just left me unsatisfied in general after such an action and magic-filled climax that seemed so promising.

So, all this being said, my final rating is 2.5 spindles out of 5.

What I'm currently reading: A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Now this I'm excited about.

This is the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, which I loved. She also wrote Vicious, one of my favorite novels of all time.

I won't go into plot details here, since I don't want to spoil any of this series for you, but it's essentially the continued adventures of Kell and Delilah Bard. So far, I'm loving the characters all over again, and V. E. Schwab has done an excellent job already of painting gorgeous settings on the page.

Stay tuned for my full thoughts on this book in the future once I finish it!

What are you reading right now? Let me know in the comments! :)