#by Melanie Dickerson

[penspagesandpulses]

Rating books by their huggableness

I’m a book hugger. Whenever I’m upset, I will hug the nearest book. Why? For one, it is more socially acceptable to bring a book to school than your favorite teddy bear or baby doll. Also, there are a surprising number of people who aren’t willing to give hugs to those in need, so hugging books can help in case of hugging emergency! In my experience, some books are more huggable than others, and…

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2023 📖 no. 002

Veil of Winter by Melanie Dickerson

“My precious Elyce. All is well now. I’m here.”

[haveyoureadthismgyabook]

Series info:

Book 1 of Hagenheim

Book 2: The Merchant's Daughter

Book 3: The Fairest Beauty

Book 4: The Captive Maiden

Book 5: The Princess Spy

Book 6: The Golden Braid

Book 7: The Silent Songbird

Book 8: The Orphan's Wish

Book 9: The Warrior Maiden

Book 10: The Piper's Pursuit

Book 11: The Peasant's Dream

[bookcub]

goose girl chronicles

the noble servant by melanie dickerson

this is the fourth novel adapting goose girl i have read

currently 10% of the way through and the christianity is incredibly heavy handed. both main characters are very concerned about god forgiving them constantly. it is VERY annoying and does not feel natural, more like a sermon.

one aspect i do like dual povs from our goose girl and the duke she will marry (who is ALSO going to be in disguise it looks like)

the narrative starts before her maid makes her change places although we didn't get to know her much before the journey took place, or much about her family relations

the mc had the Revelation that WOW servants are treated with NO respect!! can you BELIEVE

the writing is meh but the audio is pretty good

absolutely no nuance to this book, i am being hit over the head with the morals and the foreshadowing oof

honestly, not sure if i will finish this retelling or not, it could go either way at this point

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Merchant's Daughter | Author: Melanie Dickerson | Publisher: Zondervan (2011)

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 15/12

Oh man, I've really fallen off the wagon as far as reading and updating on my reading, haven't I?

I finished my 15th book of the year back in like...July? Very beginning of August? I think? And tomorrow is September. Oops.

Let's just say getting Covid in July immediately following my birthday didn't keep my spirits or motivation high. Truthfully, I'm only just now starting to feel fully recovered and like my drive to pursue my hobbies is coming back to me.

Speaking of hobbies - the latest book I finished: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest (306 pages).

I really enjoyed this story! The feelings and motivations of each character felt grounded and easy to follow. The main characters were both very likable to me, and watching them meet, fall in love, and reach their happily ever after was sweet.

Maybe I'm just simple and sappy, but I love a good ending where everything is resolved at the end lol! I mostly figured out the "mystery" right away, but I was still hooked on seeing how it played out.

The only part I was kind of iffy on was the masquerade fiasco, which I had to suspend my disbelief on in regards to the situation. I don't want to spoil it, but it was basically a mistaken identity situation (masquerade, masks - you know). Given what we know about Jorgen (the main guy) and how smitten he is with Odette (main girl), I just couldn't believe he would not realize it wasn't her?

The conflict there felt a bit forced, but everything else I really enjoyed! All in all, a good read.

I'm about 1/4th of the way through my next book, but at the rate I'm reading (and updating) on here, it probably won't be seen for a while lol. Hopefully I can burn through a few more books before we reach the end of the year. I can't believe it's already September!!

—

Total books read: 15 Total pages read: 4,176

[authorunpublished]

Book Review: Cloak of Scarlet

Title: Cloak of Scarlet [The Dericott Tales 5] Author: Melanie Dickerson Genre: Historical, Fantasy, Romance, Re-Telling Rating: 1 Star (DNF) Description/Synopsis: She was an orphan of no importance . . . Violet Lambton never imagined herself as anything but average. Adopted as a young child, she’s content with her comfortable life in her small medieval town with her faith, her books, and her…

[pevensiechase]

What are your top three favorite writing tropes and why?

Hi, Quo!

Ooooooo

Okay, okay this is a hard one.

Hmmmmm.

Found family - this started when I was in my mcyt (minecraft youtuber) phase because there are so many found family fics. I love them all. I need the characters to be brothers with their father and weird uncle. It was a nice break from romance which I do lean towards but needed something else.

Soulmate AUs - these are my guilty pleasure. I love these SO much. I think it started with this fic on Quotev by Anonymous Avenger. It's a Tony Stark soulmate AU fic. I ATE those up during PEAK MCU.

Fairytale Retelling - These are the ones I've read most in published media (like published books). I love retellings. The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorites, and Melanie Dickerson has a series The Fairytale Romance Series (Hagenheim) that I was OBSESSED with a few years ago. They're the Disney princess fairytales but retold during the 1400-1500s.

Thanks for the ask!

[raspberryzingaaa]

Ladies and Gents, have any of you read any Dericott books by Melanie Dickerson??? Fairytale retellings set in Medival England with a Strong religious undertone/overtone? Consider me signed up!

[friendly-neighbourhood-librarian]

Beauty and the Beast retellings

As Old As Time — Liz Braswell (Twisted Tales series)

Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge — Lisa Jensen

Beastly — Alex Flinn

The Beast's Heart — Leife Shallcross

The Beautiful Pretender — Melanie Dickerson (Medieval Fairytales series)

Bellamy and the Brute — Alicia Michaels

Belle — Cameron Dokey (Once Upon a Time series)

Belle — Sarah Price (Amish Fairytales series)

A Curse So Dark and Lonely — Brigid Kemmerer (Cursebreakers series #1)

Heart's Blood — Juliet Marillier

Human Again — E. L. Tenenbaum (End of Ever After series)

Hunted — Meagan Spooner

Lost in a Book — Jennifer Donnelly

The Merchant's Daughter — Melanie Dickerson (Hagenheim Fairytales series)

Of Beast and Beauty — Stacey Jay

Ogre Enchanted — Gail Carson Levine

The Princess and the Hound — Mette Ivie Harrison

Rose Daughter — Robin McKinley

Roses — Rose Mannering

Silken Scales — Alex Hayes (Chameleon Effect series #1)

Uprooted — Naomi Novik

🥀📚🪞

More fairy tales

[penspagesandpulses]

Book Review: Lady of Disguise by Melanie Dickerson

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Melanie Dickerson is one of my favorite authors, and she is probably the author who has had the biggest impact on my reading. You can read why here. Since I love Melanie’s books so much, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Lady of Disguise, which is the first of her books I’ve reviewed on my blog! Lady of Disguise is the sixth book in Melanie’s A Dericott Tale series.…

[dancingqueennintynine]

When I learned that the Villains Ever After Series was getting a Swan Lake story, I knew I had to read it. I expected this book to be a new favorite because I love classical ballet, and romance novels inspired by fairytales. However, after finishing this book in just under two days, I am sad to say that The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess is one of the most unromantic adaptation of Swan Lake I have read. By no means, am I upset with the Sorcerer, named Dietrich, being the love interest instead of the prince. It’s in the title. This creative twist was what interested me to begin with. However, Dietrich, despite the attempts to humanize him, is still not a charming love interest in the slightest. Ava is the heir to the throne of her kingdom, but has always had dreams to be a ballet dancer. However, she was forced to hang up her pointe shoes following an ankle injury. I liked this feature to Ava’s character both as a nod to the source material and because unfulfilled childhood dreams rips my heart strings right out.

Things finally start looking up for Ava when she receives a visit from an old friend, Prince Siegfried. But, everything changes when Dietrich the Sorcerer appears, turns Ava into a swan against her will, and kidnaps her despite her protest that she wants to go home. Maybe Dietrich has his reasons to do so, maybe he truly has Ava’s best interest at heart despite absolutely not respecting Ava’s autonomy. I personally found the reason to be flimsy. <spoiler> Ava’s twin sister, Lina, asked Dietrich to turn Ava into a swan and kill her so that she can take her place as queen. Dietrich turns her into a swan and kidnaps her instead. I recall Ava asking why he didn’t explain the situation and ask her to come with him instead, and Dietrich’s response is basically, “You would not have believed me”. I would still be bothered if he only kidnapped her, but he also denies Ava, her humanity and twists her body into something unrecognizable. Like, I would not give a man a second chance after that, even if he has a tragic sob story on top of the protecting from an evil twin excuse. </spoiler>

After the initial abduction, Dietrich does not respect Ava or even appears to take her seriously. Towards the middle of the story, Ava and Dietrich are having a very heated discussion, and Dietrich realizes the conversation is not getting anywhere. Ava only becomes more and more upset with him. A mature adult would remove themselves from the situation until both parties have a chance to calm down, but not Dietrich. He turns Ava into a swan again to shut her up. He says it’s because she needs to “cool off”. What I took away from the exchange is that A. Dietrich cannot take any criticism, even if said criticism is the result of his poor communication. B. he is more powerful than Ava and he wants her to know it.

Any efforts to make the characters fall in love just feels forced after this even when Dietrich realizes Ava’s mindreading ability hasn’t been working and finally explains himself. Ava forgives Dietrich, because the premise of the Swan Princess and the Sorcerer falling in love needs to happen not because they had genuinely good chemistry.

Finally, and this is probably is not even a problem, but I am a little confused that some major characters are renamed from the ballet, but others are not. The sorcerer character, Rothbart, is called Dietrich, and the characters filling the roles of Odette and Odile are named Ava and Lina, but the prince's name is still Siegfried.

Okay, I clearly need to calm myself down before some hot sorcerer turns me into an emu and makes me calm down.

Any Swan Lake adaptions I would recommend instead? The issue is I have not read any other books where Ava and Dietrich become a couple. However, an excellent romance book that is more of an adaptation of Robin Hood with Swan Lake elements is The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson.

[brothertonyvolturi22]

Remembering the honor of the ones that passed in 2022 Sonya eddy Barbara walters

Pope Benedict XVI Pele

Kirstie alley Stephen ' twitch' boss

Georgia holt grant Wahl

Queen Elizabeth II takeoff

Bob Saget Angela Lansbury

Sidney Poitier Olivia Newton - John

Robbie Coltrane Thierry Mugler

Andre` Leon Talley ray Liotta

Aaron Carter Leslie Jordan

Anne Heche Fred ward

Coolio Mike hodges

Jamie Lopez Dan reeves

Jay weaver grichka and Igor bogdanoff

Joan Copeland Kim mi-soo

Michael Lang Peter bogdanovich

Calvin Simon Marilyn Bergman

Ross browner Dwayne Hickman

James mtnme or mtwme. Maria Ewing

Chris Dickerson Melanie ham

Fred parris Deon lendore

Meat loaf. Steve schapiro

Charles Mcgee Yvette mimieux

Lusia Harris Gaspard Ulliel

Hardy Kruger Louie Anderson

Elza soares Clark gillies

Don Wilson Kathryn Kates

Thich nhat hanh bobbe long 'beegie ' Adair

Jean ramirez Ronnie spector

Dallas Frazier wavy navy pooh

Jon Lind adalia rose Williams

Clint arlis Jordan cashmyer

Rosa Lee Hawkins Breck Denny Jr.

Morgan Stevens Diego verdaguer

Peter Robbins rachik vachik mangassarian

Paul Carter Harrison dick Halligan

Betty Davis Emilio Delgado

Lee MacMillan Sam Bruce

Loretta Lynn Naomi Judd

Andy fletcher Bob Lanier

Kevin Samuels kailia posey

Niece waidhofer jaylon Ferguson

Gleycy correia James Caan

Tony Dow Ryan fellows

Luke Bell. Robert lupone

Don Anthony st. Claire Jesse Powell

Gavin Escobar PnB Rock

Robert Cormier Mikaben

And more rip

[bookcub]

worst books I read in 2023 imo

since i will dnf any bad books in the next 2 weeks and have a pretty stellar line up for my end of the year options, i will do my worst books of the year . . .this is based on my reading enjoyment so please don't expect objectivity

peter pan by jm barrie

i mean, this book is great in context with response texts and discussing childrens literature over time but the racism and sexism are overwhelming. i don't regret reading this book but i did not enjoy it overall.

the wonderful wizard of oz by l frank baum

see above but less obvious with racism and sexism

islands at the end of the world by austin aslan

im so over dystopias. also this was racist and sexist yay.

under the dome by kosoko jackson

if you don't mind a protagonist saying he's a journalist 17 times through his story, you might enjoy this.

the grimrose girls duology by laura pohl

in my defense, the fictional text the book focused was really deeply fascinating. or the idea of it was. deeply disappointing as a fairy tale retelling nerd. (i still can't believe i read both of these smh)

the marrow thieves by cherie dimaline

again, i can't do dystopias at my age anymore. also i should have looked up the trigger warnings before reading this. that's on me.

how much of these hills is gold by c pam zhang

i can see how this would appeal to some people. pretty writing but not appealing to me in the least.

the girl in the painting by tea cooper

i read this as an example of christian fiction in class. it was not as bad as i expected.

when women were dragons by kelly barnhill

this reeked of white feminism. there were a lot of good aspects but the message of the story was undercut by the lack of woc in the book.

the noble servant by melanie dickerson

this was what i thought christian fiction would be like. sometimes, i hate being right

beast by donna jo napoli

so racist. so sexist. so much islamophobia. and theres a lion sex scene

legends and lattes by travis baldree

if i wanted to read about a coffee shop being built, i would have read a blog post instead. biggest disappointment of the year.

pictures and stories from uncle toms cabin by harriet beecher stowe

🤮🤮🤮

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Fairest Beauty | Author: Melanie Dickerson | Publisher: Zondervan (2013)