Book Talk discussion

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Kiersten White captured readers’ hearts with her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy and its effortless mix of magic and real-world teenage humor. She returns to that winning combination of wit, charm, and enchantment in Illusions of Fate, a sparkling and romantic new novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, The Madman’s Daughter, and Libba Bray.

I really dislike when they compare books, like calling this something similar to Cassandra's books :/

Are you starting it today Roki?

yea i was thinking about it

It's so cute! I haven't enyoed a YA like this in sooo long, other than Kasie West's books ^.^

so u enjoyed pivot point?

I think you'll really like it(if you have it on your tbr) buuuut it wasn't my favorite from her. It was awesome towards the end but I got kinda bored in the beginning. It was completely my fault though cause I thought it was a dystopian-run-for-life kind of book.

oh ok lol no its not on my tbr right now it might one day though to many other books i am behind on

So...I one starred it

Really, why? I thought I saw you 3 star it.

I thought it through for a couple of days and got steadily more angry at the author

haha that happens to me with reviews too. I'll start with a merciful 3 but as I kept writing the review everything that irked me in the book just gets worse. Case in point, Ugly Love.

The more you think, the worse it gets.

So I did some research (aka googled it) and the author knows Howl's Moving Castle and modeled her book after it, not crediting that all of the ideas came from it. She never once says in the blurb that it's a re-imagining of Howl's and that's what pisses me off. If it's going to be a retelling of anything, especially something that was created in the last half century, it has to be credited or it comes off as a cheap knock off. Sorry, I'll take my Louboutins over her Target brand any day. *rage monster today*

http://tarabelletalking.blogspot.com/... My blog post came off just as angry I think.

Is this an exact replica of Howls moving castle? I was thinking as I read this that it seemed kind of like it... I haven't read Howls Moving Castle yet just have watched the movie.

It's not exact but it's similar enough to make me angry (obviously) when she doesn't credit the author or the movie. Some of the little things are almost exact copies like the house.

Like the crow? lol I am still in the beginning but the crow has made an apperance already.

Yeah, the crow is a bad one. And the whole bird theme was problematic for me

I like it so far but maybe that is because I haven't read Howl's Moving Castle... So its kind of neat. But I can understand why it would be upsetting.

If I wasn't so in love with Miyazaki, this book would not have bothered me. It's only because I'm such a fan.

I am to I want to own all of Miyazaki's movies... I am working on it. The first one I ever watched was Kiki's Delivery service. This is also the movie that helped me name my Grandma's dog.

That's awesome :-)

Omg I just got to where they are describing Finn's house and it reminds me of the one in the movie though Finn doesn't seem as mean as the guy in the movie. I like Sir bird.

Finn isn't as damaged as Howl. And I liked Sir Bird too. I like the name haha

I agree

Ok just finished Britt in the acknowledgements she does thank Miyazaki for the inspiration for this book

I guess I just feel like it's more than inspiration. Inspiration, to me, is when you use a certain aspect of a book but make it your own in other ways. It just felt like she was trying to disguise Howl's in another setting to me.

Did she credit the original author or just Miyazaki?

The more I think about it, I think I would have been okay if the blurb or dedication or whatever said something like "Inspired by Howl's Moving Castle" or "A re-telling of Howl's Moving Castle" but it just feels like she tried to sneak it by without people noticing how close it is to something else.

Oh I see here is what it says:

Special thanks to Jane Austen, Susanna Clarke, Diana Wynne Jones, and Hayao Miyazaki for telling stories that inspire me.

I am sad Sir Bird never came back into the picture. Also the ending was a but rushed. I wish it went on a little bit more.

Also I did not see Kelen being the bad guy.

Ah so she does credit the original author.

I saw a lot of Madame Suliman in Kelen. Not necessarily originally bad but has his own aspirations and intentions. Wants to get his way. Kelen was twisted in his own way into thinking that what he was doing was okay. Sort of like Warner from Shatter Me.

Did you see Pride and Prejudice in this?

True I suppose. I knew Kelen was bad news but I thought he was just going to be on the side line kind of bad not the actual master mind.

Have you started the 2nd book Unravel me yet? I wanted to start that when you did. Since I don't see how Warner can redeem himself and would like to talk to someone when reading through it.

Pride and Prejudice? How so? Did you?

Kelen had depth and reasons for the way he acted. That's what made him interesting for me.

Did you like that this was a standalone book?

I just finished Unravel Me a couple of days ago but I'm going to reread it this weekend at the lake. There was a lot going on in it and I would love to discuss it too!

I can sort of see a bit of Pride and Prejudice in it where both Finn and Jessamin have to get over themselves but that is such a standard plot theme that I'm not sure why she says it's a major thing in the book.

Yea I agree. No I did not know this was a standalone book till after I picked it up. That's why I was kind of upset when I watched Howl's Moving Castle because it kind of left off on a cliff hanger but then I found out it was a series of books so now I really want to read the series to find out what happens. But for this book it kind of seemed finished there wasn't anything really left to unanswered.

Okay I will start Unravel me soon then. Do you want me to put a discussion thread up on here so there is an easy way to discuss?

Oh yea I can understand that.

Also after that I think the next book for the entire group is either Perilous Sea or The Mime Order, which one did we want to start first?

A discussion thread would be awesome :-)

Standalones ate so rare but it's nice sometimes. I agree, Howl's needs more so maybe we should read that does at some point?

And I'm game for either but I've been looking forward to The Mime Order.

ooo I would love to read Howl's lets see what Melissa thinks and then we will decide from there.

I love Standalones! I have so many series I am working on I can't seem to keep up so when there is a standalone I like it makes me so happy unless there is a cliff hanger like ending with no more books to come then I just get frustrated.

Aww can we do Perilous Sea? Cause...ummm....I still haven't finished The Bone Season.

Also if you guys start Unravel me, I'm going to warn you, I.WILL.FANGIRL.
:P
EEK so excited to discuss that one :)

lol yay Fangirling!!!!!

Okay the Perilous Sea will be after Unravel Me if that is okay

Sounds good to me.

I'll be back from the lake Sunday and I'll catch up on reviews (hopefully).

Melissa, would you be ok with Howl's Moving Castle at some point?

definitely! Diana Jones right?

Yup :-D

awesome ill add it to the list