Kidnapping is one of the greatest fears every parent has. You’re child is playing out in the backyard, maybe picking some flowers, and in the next second, she’s gone. Vanished without a trace. The uncertainty of what’s happening to that child, of not knowing if they’re alive or dead is gut wrenching to even imagine.

I didn’t want to imagine it, which is why in my version of events, Demeter knows Persephone’s whereabouts the entire time. My own daughter was six months old when Persephone was finished. I literally could not write the missing child story. But it came up a lot in my research, and as with anything else, the more you know, the more parallels you can see in modern culture. The fear of kidnapping predates the pantheon. That universal fear of losing a child is a major reason Demeter’s role features so heavily in the myth. So I wouldn’t consider these to be retellings. More like echoes. So why way back Wednesday instead of modern Wednesday? These are adaptations that may have inspired my telling of the myth. They happened in my lifetime, prior to, or during, my writing of Persephone.

The Labrynth

Sarah, who plays a unique combination role of both Demeter and Persephone in this myth, loses her little brother to the Goblin King (Hades). To win him back, she must venture through the dark and mysterious land of the labyrinth (the Underworld), resisting all the temptations therein. Yes, technically, this is more of a changing story. But there are echoes of Demeter and Persephone here.

Man on Fire

When Dakota Fanning is kidnapped, Denzel Washington (I’m sorry, were they supposed to have other names in this movie?) razes the earth to find her. He probably kills about as many people as the first winter and his grizzly brand of justice would win the goddess’ approval.

Also in this vein is the movie Taken. Very similar plot structures, very similar violence, only in this case instead of a surrogate father figure and a younger child it’s an older daughter that goes missing.

Flightplan          

When Jodie Foster’s daughter goes missing on board a plane, she enlists the aid of the flight attendants and passengers. However it soon comes to light that no one recalls seeing her daughter on board. Gas lighting and psychobabble ensue as this mother does anything she can to find her daughter. Beyond the obvious connections of a mother searching desperately for her little girl, there’s also an echo of the silence of Olympus and the misdirection of Zeus in the film.

Silent Hill

Based on the video game by the same name, this features a woman literally going to hell and back to rescue her missing adopted daughter. The symbolism in this movie is pretty impressive. I love the way the mom’s dress slowly turns from white to red as her journey through silent hill progresses. Very loss of innocence. A key feature in the Demeter myth.

There are literally thousands of other stories featuring kidnappings. Can you think of any parallels to Demeter?

The Selection by Kiera Cass is a dystopian novel that takes the same reality TV concept The Hunger Games used, only instead of making a survivor like game, this book takes a page from The Bachelor The prince of dystopia is of marrying age, so a group of age-appropriate young women are brought to the palace. Throughout the choosing, girls will be eliminated until one very special girl is chosen to become queen.
The protagonist, America Singer, is one of the girls selected, but unlike every one else who is all ready to fall for the prince, she’s uninterested because America is in love with a boy from a lower caste than her, and he broke things off before he could ruin her life by dragging her down to his level. Her disinterest is a refreshing change for the prince and the two become fast friends. In a refreshing change of pace for the genre, America also makes friends with most the girls from the competition. In an even more refreshing change for the genre, instead of the girls being cut-throat competitors, most of them affirm each other’s strengths and talk about the regal potential they see in one another. I also enjoyed the fact America is girly. She wears makeup, she likes dresses and pants. I think it’s great that there are so many examples of dystopian female heroes right now with such diverse skills and personalities, whether it be this series, the Matched series, Divergent, or The Hunger Games, each of these female protagonists are strong in different ways. What I especially like about this book is that there’s none of this “she’s not like other girls” stuff you see in a lot of YA fiction right now. That trend is damaging to young women because it sends the message that women need to distance themselves from their gender to be perceived as interesting.
The story isn’t all a Miss Congeniality reboot. There is a strong dystopian element there. The kingdom is under threat, the class differences are drastic and disturbing, and there’s a sense that things are much darker below the surface. The Selection was a good book, but I was left with the sense that the novel barely scratched the surface of a world that’s going to get infinitely more disturbing. In terms of teaching, I think this book would just be present on my classroom library for book clubs during a dystopian unit. It was a fast and very engaging read, and the rest of the series is consistently good.

Okay, so my next few reviews are going to be a bit different because they double as reviews for a class I’m taking on Adolescent Literature. Just a heads up

Holes is a middle grade novel by Louis Sachar that follows the misfortunes of Stanley Yelnats. Stanley’s family was cursed with bad luck generations ago. Incredibly bad luck. Stanley’s bad luck hits its peak when Stanley is walking along and minding his own business one day when a pair of stolen tennis shoes fall from the sky. He’s arrested for theft and sent to Camp Greenlake Juvinile Detention center. Stanley meets a unique set of characters, including (spoilers) the descendent of the woman who cursed his family.
Intertwined with Stanley’s story is the tale of Kissing Kate Barlow, whose tragic love story cursed the land of Camp Green Lake a century ago. The land isn’t green, and there’s no lake. The warden has the boys digging 5 foot by 5 foot holes to “build there character,” and to search for Kate Barlow’s treasure.
It’s an incredibly intricate plot line told in a very simplistic way to engage young readers. This is a fantastic book to use for teaching plot threads, point of view, and proper framing of stories within stories. This would be a fun book to sit down with kids and do one of those “this-happened….and so…” charts. And a class discussion on the ripple-effect after reading this book would be intense. Because the movie is such a faithful adaptation of the book (the changes would only enhance the discussion) there’s also an opportunity to compare the different mediums, which satisfies a variety of state standards.
Another great message for kids is that for all the talk of curses and bad luck, the characters are all incredibly self-motivated go-getters. I think a lot of kids can relate to the feeling of being “cursed.” The sensation that even though you’re trying to do everything right everything goes wrong is common in the drama of middle school. However due to the complete and utter lack of young female characters (the only women in the book are the Warden, Stanley’s mom, and Kate Barlow, all middle aged, all authority figures, and also vastly outnumbered by adult men), I would recommend pairing this novel (or at least following this novel) with something like Inkheart.

The Blurb:In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance — beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.

Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone — a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book much more than book four, but it still took me a lot longer to get through than it should have. And I had a complete brain lapse 90% through the book when all the sudden I got thrust into some guys perspective and had no idea who he was, where he was, or what the heck was going on. I don’t know if it’s just my copy, but please, please, please go back to naming the chapters Jon Snow. Jon Connington, Arya, not “the one who vague descriptioned.” That doesn’t help me. It extra doesn’t help me when I’ve never met the character before. With the new characters, I caught myself skimming pages and pages of description because I knew *where* they were, but I’d not been informed WHO they were within the context and why I cared whether or not they lived or died.

I also noticed way more repetition than usual. Some of it, like “if I look back, I’m lost,” I like. When it’s one character and their one phrase, sure. But if one more character felt the need to inform me that words are wind…gah. I mean it’s SUCH a cool saying. Don’t kill it like a top 40 station.

But otherwise, I really enjoyed the book. I like how all the threads are starting to come together and you can see everything shifting. I’m sad that I’m caught up and have to wait for the next book. But at least I know I’m going to read it instead of losing interest.

The Blurb:
The Time for the final battle has come. Edmund’s armies have surrounded the Rioseco Abbey, trapping the few survivors inside. The sight that Ilyan was given a thousand years ago is about to come to pass. If only Joclyn was able to fight. Joclyn is tormented by the hallucinations that Cail’s mind has left her with, her magic an uncontrollable torrent that even Ilyan cannot control. Her moments of lucidity are broken by fears of dripping pipes and bleeding walls, and a desire to kill Ryland that she is having trouble trying to ignore. The sight has shown her power, shown her success, but it has also shown her death – The end of her life something she is not quite willing to give up on yet. Even past her death, the sight has shown her love, and that love may be the only key to her sanity, to her strength, and to Edmund’s death. That love may stand in her way, and a single choice may tip the scales and secure their future, or destroy their fate.

My thoughts:

I really enjoy this series, and I’m happy that by the end of this book, Jocelyn is a little less broken. Don’t get me wrong, after everything she’s been through trauma is super realistic. It’s just really hard to read someone that needy. Honestly, the further I get into this series, the less I identify with any of the characters. I suppose that’s to be expected because the extreme stuff they’ve been through, coupled with out of this world supernatural content but this book series became more high-fantasyish as it progressed. Some readers will love that. Me, I prefer urban. And while this is set in our world, it’s lost the our-world feel. They’re stuck in an abbey in the middle of nowhere in the book, not a single character within said abbey is human nor is anyone they care about outside of the abbey, there are long chunks of dialogue in another language (a real, spoken language mind you, but one about as familiar to me as elvish), celebrating customs I’m not familiar with and arguing about traditions I’ve never heard of. Jocelyn should be my entry into this world because she’s as unfamiliar with all of it as I am, but she doesn’t help explain, she vacillates between irrationally angry, incredibly panicked, confused, then intuitively all knowing. I don’t get the rules of this world, and that probably has a lot to do with the amount of time between me consuming the books before this in like a day months and months ago and reading this one. Also, I’m team Ryland, so between those three factors, I found myself skimming a lot of this book.
However I will still read the next one. The setting is changing and Jocelyn is stronger. I need to know how this series ends. I’m invested.

The Blurb: Witch and day-walking demon Rachel Morgan has managed to save the demonic ever after from shrinking, but at a high cost. Now strange magic is attacking Cincinnati and the Hollows, causing spells to backfire or go horribly wrong, and the truce between the races, between Inderlander and human, is shattering.

Rachel must stop the occurrences before the undead vampire masters who keep the rest of the undead under control are lost and it becomes all-out supernatural war. However, the only way to do so is through the ancient elven wild magic, which carries its own perils.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book, but I was kind of surprised that it isn’t the end of The Hollows series. I know there are some loose ends still, but when I finished the book it felt final, and I was happy with it. Great feeling if it is the end of the series, not so great if you want to urge readers to get your next book. But I love this series so I will absolutely get the next one. Random funny note, I totally thought the title Ever After would be best for the last book too, I guess I’m just anxious to see how the series ends!

Rachel/Trent fans will end this book happy, and man is it a trip if you ever re-read book one. I love the way Harrison’s world grows as Rachel’s knowledge increases. It feels very realistic. It’s like reading history. When you’re all young events happened a certain way. There was clear lines of good guys and bad guys. Then as you go through school the layers of the fairytale you’ve come to accept as reality gets pulled away and you realize history is much bigger, much more complex, and oh so much darker than you ever imagined, and everything that was once black and white has bled to grey.

Good book, not as amazing as Ever After but still a great read. I’m curious how The Hollows is going to end.

The Blurb: Irina “Ira” Jeffries and her roommate, Fernanda Lopez, turn heads, even in a paradise like Miami’s South Beach where beauty is the rule, not the exception. Ira lands local modeling gigs while working at an ultra-hip art deco hotel. Fernanda’s classic Hispanic looks catapult her to the top of the local pageant scene. Both women take a mind-blowing ride into the cutthroat and competitive fashion and pageant worlds filled with seductive men, thousand dollar champagne toasts, Botox parties, spiked drinks, and the most incredible cities. Ira must choose between the frenetic pace of the fashion runways or the man she loves, sexy Spaniard and aspiring shoe designer, Pablo Andrews. Fernanda’s quest for being the best and nabbing the crown of Miss United States drives her into the arms of local celebrity and former trash-talking Miami Tarpon football player, Thomas Traylor. Each woman eventually has to make the biggest decision of her life about who she really wants to be. The options leave them both Head Over High Heels.

My Review: I downloaded this book for free on amazon when I was doing research to see how other authors managed the descriptions in their books. This book was similar to the rest of the modeling books that I’ve read. Shy, sweet, otherwise perfect girl doesn’t realize how incredibly gorgeous she happens to be and becomes a super famous, super popular, superstar of a model while struggling with whether or not she’ll lose her true identity to the evils of fame. Meanwhile girl meets a boy who appreciates her for being real but gets angry with her as modeling pushes her further and further toward fake. This book was written for adults so there was more sex, drugs, and plastic surgery than the YA versions of the tale, but otherwise it was similar. There were some plot points that bordered on the ridiculous, but all in all the book was good fun and for a free read completely worth the download.

Pros: Girl Friendships. Too often this type of book features the wallflower who is *different* from other girls and consequently doesn’t get along with other women. Gibson neatly sidesteps that oh so annoying cliche that sets women up against each other and puts a friendship front and center of the story that is every bit as important as the romance. Another major prop every character in this story has their own life. Even the love interest. And it doesn’t revolve around the protagonist! Instead everyone is reaching for their own goals, experiencing their own dramas, and supporting each other along the way.

Cons: The book got preachy on a few points, being anti-drug didn’t bother me, but the book came down just as hard on plastic surgery and botox. Now, I happen to agree that as women we should be happy with our appearance and screw anyone who tries to pressure a woman into going under the knife and I’m never going to spent my money on plastic surgery because for me, it’s just not a priority. However, the degree it was frowned upon ruffled even MY feathers. I don’t think it’s anyones, particularly not two natural born super models written as mouth pieces, place to judge whether or not a woman chooses plastic surgery. That’s no ones business but theirs and the sheer snide comments from the virtuous good guys about the amount of work different models got done just came off as grating.

There was also a missed opportunity in this book that completely made me lose respect for one of the characters involving a person who’d undergone a sex change. The character turned down an opportunity because *spoiler*

she’d originally lost to someone who was born male and was offered first place once this fact was uncovered. Her reason for turning down the opportunity was that she was insulted she’d lost to a biological male in the first place. She could have made a statement about how this person who identifies as female and went through numerous and painful operations so the rest of the world would see them as they perceived themselves won and she didn’t think it was right to take that from them. No, she just basically said she should have won in the first place. And I get that not everyone shares that opinion but in a book that’s completely about discovering who you really are and going after your dreams while discovering yourself, it seemed an odd plot point to throw in there for almost no reason.

But that’s my opinion, and that has nothing to do with the writing just an opinion I have. Ignoring those two things that just grated on my nerves, the book was fun to read. Well written descriptions too. Worth checking out.

Blurb: Once, a long time ago, I walked down a night-darkened road called Firefly Lane, all alone, on the worst night of my life, and I found a kindred spirit. That was our beginning. More than thirty years ago. TullyandKate. You and me against the world. Best friends forever. But stories end, don’t they? You lose the people you love and you have to find a way to go on. . . .

Tully Hart has always been larger than life, a woman fueled by big dreams and driven by memories of a painful past. She thinks she can overcome anything until her best friend, Kate Ryan, dies. Tully tries to fulfill her deathbed promise to Kate–to be there for Kate’s children–but Tully knows nothing about family or motherhood or taking care of people.

Sixteen-year-old Marah Ryan is devastated by her mother’s death. Her father, Johnny, strives to hold the family together, but even with his best efforts, Marah becomes unreachable in her grief. Nothing and no one seems to matter to her . . . until she falls in love with a young man who makes her smile again and leads her into his dangerous, shadowy world.

Dorothy Hart–the woman who once called herself Cloud–is at the center of Tully’s tragic past. She repeatedly abandoned her daughter, Tully, as a child, but now she comes back, drawn to her daughter’s side at a time when Tully is most alone. At long last, Dorothy must face her darkest fear: Only by revealing the ugly secrets of her past can she hope to become the mother her daughter needs.

A single, tragic choice and a middle-of-the-night phone call will bring these women together and set them on a poignant, powerful journey of redemption. Each has lost her way, and they will need one another–and maybe a miracle–to transform their lives.

An emotionally complex, heart-wrenching novel about love, motherhood, loss, and new beginnings, Fly Away reminds us that where there is life, there is hope, and where there is love, there is forgiveness.

My Review: This isn’t my typical read, but I found it to be enjoyable nonetheless. It was touching, and sad. Sometimes unnecessarily so and a bit predictable from time to time (in a Murphy’s law kind of way) but overall the story captured the different ways that people fall apart when tragedy strikes and how they build themselves back up.

One major positive, I had no idea this was a sequel. None. I’d never heard of Firefly Lane (I picked this book up at a book exchange) until I went to review this on goodreads. I felt like all the characters were well developed, but never once got the sensation that it was because I’d missed their adventures in another story. As an author that struggles with how much backstory to put in my sequels, I have to give props here because it’s really hard to include the level of detail needed to catch new readers up without making them feel like they are drowning in backstory. Great job, Ms. Hannah!