Book Couples Challenge Day 8 already!
Today’s topic is Fairy Tales!
This is another trope that has been used aplenty: retelling of fairy tales. I have chosen five books among many, many stories and I will choose a winner but it will be difficult!
Cinder and Prince Kai in Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The least you can tell about this Cinderella retelling is that it’s original! To have Cinderella being a cyborg proves the author’s vivid imagination and boldness.
Book synopsis
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Favorite quotes
Fun one 😀
“I don’t know. I don’t actually remember anything from before the surgery.”
His eyebrows rose, his blue eyes sucking in all the light of the room. “The cybernetic opetation?”
“No, the sex change.”
The doctor’s smile faltered.
“I’m joking.”
― Marissa Meyer, Cinder
And a cute one 😛
“Kai cleared his throat. Stood straighter. “I assume you are going to the ball?”
“I-I don’t know. I mean, no. No, I’m sorry, I’m not going to the ball.”
Kai drew back, confused. “Oh well… but… maybe you would change your mind? Because I am, you know.”
“The prince.”
“Not bragging,” he said quickly. “Just a fact.”
― Marissa Meyer, Cinder
Goodreads ->https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36381037-cinder
Amazon -> http://amzn.to/2yhViDL
Xifeng and Wei in Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C Dao
This is my most recent fairy tale retelling. I consider it a kind of retelling as Xifeng holds many similarities with the evil queen in Snow White if the Queen had a past that could have us empathize with her.
Honestly she liked Wei but … not enough.
Here is what I wrote about them with quotes wrapped up:
“Should I love her? The girl with fences around her heart had me weaving a tapestry of barbed wires around my own heart.
Sometimes I hated her for how she played with Wei’s feelings.
“Wei as a man still wanted what Wei as a child had wished for, but Xifeng’s heart stayed silent.”
It was not fair how she treated him never loving him fully but not wanting to free him from her spell and have another lover.
“She would wrap her coils around him in tender confinement and be not his captive, but his captor.”
Sometimes I pitied Xifeng as she seemed to have her destiny chosen for her. Yes she had the poison and the antidote. Yes she could have made another choice. But honestly was it a real choice when she had to contend with that terrible god?
With Wei out of the picture I would dare say few hope was left.
“She couldn’t help the urgent longing to see Wei. He, too, was part of her destiny after all that faithful dependable boy who had always been her moral compass, who had always only seen the good in her. If anyone could keep the creature’s dark whisperings at bay, it would be him.’
Goodreads -> https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33958230-forest-of-a-thousand-lanterns
Amazon -> http://amzn.to/2hVWx5i
Feyre and Tamlin in A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
This is a retelling of The Beauty and the Beast. Very well executed even if I ended loving Rhysand with Feyre instead of Tamlin. I’m still furious with SJM at how she treated poor Tamlin honestly.
What I wrote about the book:
“It’s a stunning and imaginative rendering of “Beauty and the Beast” tale, one I relished reading till the last page. Better than the brother Grimm’s tale. It was also cruel and the torture she had to go through was sometimes unbearable and I had to take deep breaths and stop my reading.
I loved it till the last drop of fairy magic and I can’t wait to read the other books of the series.”
Favorite quote:
“You look . . . better than before.”
Was that a compliment? I could have sworn Lucien gave Tamlin an encouraging nod.
“And you hair is . . . clean.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sharzad and Khalid in The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
“What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?” he whispered.
“If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed.” The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.
“No.” His hands dropped to her waist. “Destroy me.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawnand as I’m a hopeless romantic:“I love you, a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn
Zsadist and Bella in Lover Awakened by JR Ward
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.
Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her…
“I… What are you saying, Zsadist?” she stammered, even though she’d heard every word.
He glanced back down at the pencil in his hand and then turned to the table. Flipping the spiral notebook to a new page, he bent way over and labored on top of the paper for quite a while. Then he ripped the sheet free.
His hand was shaking as he held it out. “It’s messy.”
Bella took the paper. In a child’s uneven block letters there were three words: I LOVE YOU
Her lips flattened tight as her eyes stung. The handwriting got wavy and then disappeared.
“Maybe you can’t read it,” he said in a small voice. “I can do it over.”
She shook her head. “I can read it just fine. It’s… beautiful.”“I don’t expect anything back. I mean… I know that you don’t… feel that for me anymore. But I wanted you to know. It’s important that you knew.”
― J.R. Ward, Lover Awakened
Sigh…Zsadist and Bella!!! I them so much, I’ve probably read that book like three times! Good choice!
Haha thank you Trisy, glad to see that you love them too! 😉
Love this post! I totally agree with you on Tamlin! I loved his character in ACOTAR but I didn’t like the way Sarah turned him so ugly later on. I’m glad he finally came to his senses in ACOWAR. I hope he finds his HEA too!
Well me too. I raged at SJM. I love Rhysand and I think he is a better match for Feyre but that was no reason to treat poor Tamlin like that. She did the same with Chaol. I cross my fingers for his HEA. And I want Lucien to have his HEA too.
Finally someone who mentions the Black Dagger Brotherhood!! Z was my favorite character and I am pretty sure I cried during that scene in the book! I still get teary eyed to be honest! I love V and Butch too! The feels! I loved Kia and Cinder, and Xifeng.
I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood! Rage is another favorite of mine but Zsadist is first in my heart. And I cried too! Honestly I cry easily while reading and become all teary eyes on the train. My co-commuters are used to this strange reading lady by now LOL. The most embarrasing is me crying on the treadmill at the fitness club!!!
Zsadist was my favorite from that series! To this day he is one of my favorite flawed love interest.
Don’t start me on Zsadist! He was so big but a kid inside. He really broke my heart 😉