#the twistrose key

[skyebird0]

My interpretation of Figenskar from the Twistrose Key :D

[journeysfable]

"Every legend starts somewhere. Why not with you?" "Because it didn't."

Thornghost my beloved

[zannolin]

hello! sorry to bother you, but I saw you said you're reading your book number 91 (!!!! That's impressive) and I've been looking for book recommendations lately, so if you don't mind, would you share some book recs you have? (of fiction if it's possible). thank you!

haha yeah i tend to spend most of my free time when i'm not writing (or doing fiber crafts) reading books. absolutely so happy to give recs!!! all the time!! will talk ceaselessly about the books i'm reading!!

anything by ann patchett ever but my favs by her are bel canto, the magician's assistant, and commonwealth. she's litfic and very very good, even her nonfiction stuff

the scorpio races by maggie stiefvater is my fav book of ALL time. it's ya urbanish fantasy. lifechanging.

the locked tomb series by tamsyn muir. lesbians abound. sci-fi/fantasy absolutely gorgeous in every way. cuts me to the bone

jurassic park by michael crichton. yep there's a book! i am almost done reading it right now (it is in fact book number 91) and i seriously love it like could not recommend more.

any of kristen arnett's books but mostly dead things by her is my fav! it's about a lesbian taxidermist

it's middle grade but the beyonders trilogy by brandon mull is so so so good and i love it deeply

lockwood & co by jonathan stroud is a fun ghost/paranormal series; literally the best ghost series i have read bar none

if you like peter pan, fairytale retellings, or having the heart ripped out of your chest by the concept of loneliness and growing up or the lack thereof, the peter and the starcatchers series by dave barry & ridley pearson is a really good peter pan retelling. if you're willing to overlook how some aspects of the peter pan story as a whole have not aged very well. book four is so fucking good tho

i don't often recommend ya fantasy or romance of any kind but the folk of the air series by holly black is a really good fey series with enemies to lovers i actually liked

in a similar vein of the two above, the lunar chronicles series by marissa meyer is a really fun sci-fi retellings of fairytales; heartless by her is not connected in any way but is also a fairytale retelling i fucking LOVE

our wives under the sea by julia armfield is queer, excellent, and a little horrifying

authors i have only read a few from but highly recommend and need to read ALL of include octavia butler and toni morrison

her body & other parties by carmen maria machado is a life-changing collection of queer horror short stories; in the dream house by her is also incredible but it's a memoir and you should look up content warnings on it beforehand if you're a person who doesn't do well with heavy content

i've only read the first two books but the beartown series by fredrik backman is REALLY good; it's about hockey and friendship and living in small towns and stuff. it does deal with some heavy content as well so again w warnings etc but truly i'm obsessed

mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia was another horror book i really liked

middle grade again but i adore the twistrose key by tone almhjell (it's fantasy and about like growing up and beloved pets and things) (i'm trying not to rec a ton of middle grade here because i know it's not for everyone but i am an enjoyer of a lot of middle grade series if you ever want recs lol i am like supreme lord of reading puzzle/mystery/adventure series)

i have only read one book by tj klune thus far but my friends swear by him

the princess bride by william goldman is unironically SO good

if you like vague horror, suspense, and having your mind boggled, mona awad is really good

the dead lands by benjamin percy is (stay with me here) a post-apocalyptic retelling of the journey of lewis & clark (yeah the guys from us history) and i'm gonna be real. i was shocked by how much i liked it. it's WILD.

babel by rf kuang is like. massive. but it's really good historical fantasy.

the only good indians by stephen graham jones is really good horror and i've heard really good things about the rest of his books

meddling kids by edgar cantero is this really funky scooby-doo inspired horror/mystery novel that i love. it is Very quirky.

not fiction but animal vegetable miracle (barbara kingsolver; about farming and american food culture and family and stuff), the shallows: what the internet is doing to our brains (nicholas carr; about information technology etc), long live the tribe of fatherless girls (t kira madden; memoir, trigger warnings again), and the radium girls (kate moore; us history) are just. so so so good. in many different ways. couldn't not rec them!!

thistlefoot by gennarose nethercott is really good fantasy; it's an urban fantasy take on the baba yaga mythos that i really loved

four treasures of the sky by jenny tinghui zhang is historical fiction with a tinge of fantasy; gorgeous writing

the girls at the kingfisher club by genevieve valentine is a flapper retelling of the 12 dancing princesses

tender is the flesh by agustina bazterrica is really really fucked up horror/dystopia about a world where cannibalism has been legalized; very graphic in a sense but like. WILD to read.

i hope that's a good range! i read allll sorts of books and i know not all of them appeal to everyone but those are the ones i've really really enjoyed within the last couple years. hope you find something you enjoy out of all of them!

[televinita]

PROJECT READ OR RELEASE

While I'm trying to make progress on that whole donate-50-books goal, I thought it might help me if I made a list of my biggest "read or release it" candidates. So. Here are a bunch of books I mostly bought ~just to read~ and consequently will donate if I haven't read them by...let's say November, so they can go to library sales.

EDIT: now striking through titles I've read (these are also italicized) and/or added to the donation bag.

The Innkeeper's House - Elizabeth Bromke

Wildlands - Rebecca Hodge

Last Chance Rescue - Tracey Kelly-Cramer

How To Tell Toledo From the Night Sky - Lydia Netzer

Earnest - Kristin Von Kreisler

Say That Again - N. Gemini Sasson

City Cirl, Country Vet - Cathy Woodman

The Twistrose Key - Tone Almhjell

The Island of Beyond - Elizabeth Atkinson

On the Run - Tristan Bancks

Recycle This Book - ed. Dan Gutman

The World Up from Here - Cecilia Galante

Secrets and Scones - Laurel Remington

The Truth About Twinkie Pie - Kat Yeh

Blue Moon - Hila Feil

Seven Days of You - Cecilia Vinesse

Last updated: January 28 July 26th (thank u random reblogger who reminded me this post exists)

[martinebirgitte]

The winter is finally here!☃️

So here’s some lovely reccomendations to get you in the mood for the winter wonderlands📚

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

The Bear And The Nighttingale (trilogy), by Katherine Arden

Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell

The Twistrose Key, by Tone Almhjell

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis

Northern Lights, by Phillip Pullman

Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling

📚✨Happy reading✨📚

[grimm-the-tiger]

Some sketches for the heck of it. All characters except the grumpy girl in the bottom left corner and the two weird floating heads near the middle and upper left are not OCs. 

Left to right, starting from the top: a rose, SatW Iceland in a santa hat, a feather, Gimli (OC), the twistrose key from the Twistrose Key, SCP-049 from SCP Foundation, Kugelmugel from Hetalia, Skadi (my Fallen London character, so OC), CultCom, Communalism and Moralism from Realicide, Six and Mono from Little Nightmares, Helmi (OC), and the wall from Hadestown. 

I apologize for the bad art. 

[wideeyedreader]

Just finished! I loved this middle-grade fantasy, and totally recommend it. It’s just so cute!

Review to come!

[littlewolflibrarian]

I let a friend borrow my favourite book a while back, and I finally got it back! He had three chapters left, so I forced him to finish it, but before that I noticed that he’d used this as a bookmark! o)3(o

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: The Twistrose Key

Author: Tone Almhjell

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2013

Genres: fiction, fantasy, adventure, mystery

Blurb: When a mysterious parcel arrives at her family’s new home, 11-year-old Lin Rosenquist has a curious feeling she’s meant to discover what’s inside. Much to Lin’s surprise, the ornate key contained in the parcel unlocks a spellbinding world called Sylver, hidden behind the cellar door. Sylver is an enchanting land of eternal winter, inhabited by animals that shared a special connection with children in the real world, either as beloved pets or tamed wild animals. In death, they are delivered to Sylver, where they take on a curiously human-like form and still watch over the children they cherish. While Lin is overjoyed to be reunited with her beloved pet Rufus, she soon learns that the magic of the Petlings and Wilders is failing, and snow trolls want to claim Sylver for themselves. Lin must discover a way to stop them and save this enchanted world.

[osviremimic]

June 6th: Minor Character: Ursa Minor, The Twistrose Key

A bear that is introduced as a failed teapot painter because his paws are too big= my heart ❤️🐻

[headspace-hotel]

what are your favorite books? and why? ☺️

I saw this earlier and I feel like I fail to answer asks like this usually because I get too indecisive.

Like I have authors where I love their worldbuilding so much I want to explode, but frequently can't stand their characterization (looking at you, China Mieville), and others where the characters were great but the plot sucked in some way, and it's Very Hard to narrow down to the "best." I have a lot of books like "yes this book is amazing and visionary, yes I rated it 3/5 stars"

Also I read a lot of nonfiction or books that aren't my "usual" genre and it feels weird to compare them you know

The Epic of Gilgamesh was the first book that I could feel it changing me forever as a person. I am still genuinely obsessed with it.

Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy is so fucking underrated, his characters are SO good and so is his worldbuilding.

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer. it's actually better than Annihilation imo

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

All of the Malazan series (that i've read so far), by Steven Erikson

Leviathan and sequels by Scott Westerfeld

A Natural History of Dragons and sequels by Marie Brennan

Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch

The Edge Chronicles series by Paul Stewart. Give your child this series instead of harry potter

Railsea by China Miéville was pretty great and The Scar was also great in terms of worldbuilding but i hated the main character so much and also it should have been at least 3 books

This is a weird one but The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell is WAY better than a middle grade book about a girl going to an afterlife where pets go to has ANY right to be. It's got this super lush, VIVID world and it's just really, really good for SOME REASON

What If? by Randall Munroe. Yes it is nonfiction, Yes that's the guy that made xkcd, it's GREAT

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein bc it decided who I am as a person I think

[journeysfable]

Anyone want to be insane about an obscure children's books series with me

[zannolin]

4 7 AND 17!!!! -kai

HI KAI my beloved thank youuuu <3

4. Do you prefer writing multi-chapter or oneshot fanfictions?

oneshots full stop. okay well rolling stop. i love multi-chapters in theory but my god i hate the execution they take SO long to write and i have to keep so much straight and i have to pick CHAPTER TITLES and have you noticed how people are the worst about commenting on multichaps? if you post a oneshot people seem to be more likely to leave you a lovely comment with all their thoughts. post a multichapter and people won't comment 'til it's over or just leave a one-line comment like "can't wait til there's more!!" and it's like why did i even put in all this work if it was miserable to write and there's no joy in posting HUH. but also i do love when i have like one person i know is reading it and i have a reveal happening at some point or a crazy cliffhanger and i get to see their reaction to it. moth's reactions to the fey au were very fun back in the day. so yeah i'm a oneshot girlie but i keep writing ill-advised multi-chapters and telling myself "this time it will be different" (it is not different the best it gets is subreddits calling your fic "super underrated" which is not actually the compliment people think it is).

7. What’s a trope you love to write?

love to write a good college fic. found family, of course, is a big one. and hurt/comfort is my beloved.

17. Are there any writers and/or stories that you consider an influence?

writers (fic): @/rebelpeas, @/eirianerisdar, meri, laquearia, @/rarilight, @/blusandbirds, aknightley, YouAreInAComaWakeUp writers (other): maggie stiefvater, tamsyn muir, t kira madden, carmen maria machado, my sister, ann patchett, kristen arnett, edgar allen poe, lemony snicket, tolkien (obligatory), shel silverstein, probably wayne thomas batson unfortunately

stories (not book specific): the scorpio races, the secret life of bees, the twistrose key, the polar express (2004), fnaf, the oz books, home alone 2: lost in new york (1992), parallelograms by agrestenoir, pins and needles by mutterandmumble, national treasure (2004), the truman show (1998), the half of it (2020), frances ha (2012), the goose girl by shannon hale, the starcatchers series, the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, the haunting of hill house (2018), mabel podcast, welcome to night vale podcast, alice isn't dead podcast, the odd life of timothy green (2012), moulin rouge! (2001), the spiderwick chronicles, over the garden wall (2014), the x-files, object 3921.0045.371, catalog entry by wrishwrosh, this one (well, one and a half) christmas musical production the church where i live put on (that i was in fun fact) that involved two characters reuniting after like 30 years that left an unbelievable impact on my 12 y/o brain, mlp:fim, and star trek....to name a few.

i feel like that explains both everything and nothing about my writing.

ask game!!

[folkdances]

margot's top 10 children's books

(1) the girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making

(2) the twistrose key

(3) obligatory percy jacson

[daystar-daydreamer]

Book review: The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell

Category: Middle-grade

Genre: Fantasy mystery/action-adventure

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 stars... BUST OUT THE CONFETTI AND STREAMERS, EVERYONE, THIS IS R A R E

Recommended for: 10-14, for semi-graphic violence

The Twistrose Key is a 2013 book about a girl named Lindelin (Shortened to Lin for most of the book) who recently lost her pet vole, Rufus. One day, she finds a package containing a key that leads her to Sylveros, a world where all the animals that have ever loved a child go after they die. 

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

So... The first thing I’d like to talk about is Ursa Minor, who is, as you can guess, a bear. And one of the tenets for an animal to get into Sylveros is that they loved a child in life.

WHICH KID MANAGED TO BEFRIEND A B E A R?? lol

Let’s start off with the worldbuilding. Sylveros is so vividly described that I could almost see it, and it’s g o r g e o u s. 

Another thing I love is the characters. Lin is so sweet and brave, and the animals are so vibrant and unique! I especially loved Rufus - caring, protective, fatherly Rufus. Even Isvan, who we barely got to know! I loved him pretty much from the moment Teodor showed that picture of him. I got attached to him from a picture. A picture!

I was utterly crushed when he died, and I almost cheered aloud when he came back to life. 

And Figenskar, too. That goddamn cat...

Well, let’s just say that Sylver is better off without him. 

[grimm-the-tiger]

The first thing I ever drew with my current art program (FireAlpaca). This was made...last March, I think? Needless to say, my art’s improved quite a bit. 

Anyways, this is a poorly drawn scene from The Twistrose Key (the roots are supposed to be white...). Really good book, 10/10, would recommend. It’s basically about a girl who has to save another world that essentially functions as the afterlife for dead pets.