Vivian's Book Pavilion

Midnight Frost By Jennifer Estep Here we go again. . .    Yes! Here we go again, another long journey for Gwen and me! I’m so looking forward to make her life miserable! (I’m sure you know why I accused her in Crimson Forest…and won’t be fooled again, so…) Vivian and Agrona were such determined people! They never stopped hurting Gwen! Even doing something like poison…

Crimson Frost By Jennifer Estep   Yes! We have a new type of story from those YA novel! The good guy is now the worst guy in the whole world! (…of course, that’s an accident, a wrong accuse.) And the accuser…happens to be…ME!!! Hahahaha! (I’m such an evil person, right? But don’t leave because of this reason! Keep reading, and perhaps you’ll forgive me…or not)

Dark Frost By Jennifer Estep   If I’m right, Gwen had a horrible day before school…her miserable life. We’re here to talk about her unfortunate life again. (But we love it…) This time, Gwen was truly a heroine! She no longer need the help of others in the sword fight, with her improving skill and the annoying sword, she can finally defeat reapers on her own. (Logan saved her every time when she was in trouble in the first book; Gwen “borrowed” Logan’s memory to defense herself in the second…technically, “borrowed” doesn’t mean she defeated by herself.)

Kiss of Frost By Jennifer Estep   I read the second book right after I finish the first book. Kiss of Frost may not contain as much exciting battle scene as the first one, but it reveals some of the important information and Gwen’s “getting better” miserable life. (I think we all informed that Gwen has a horrible, terrible, miserable…any more description?) And more hot guys in this book… (Is that important? Come on…)

Touch of Frost By Jennifer Estep   I'm starting a new category! I've finally finished the fairytale retelling I own...maybe some in the future, but now...it's mythology time!   It is such a good book for such a long time after reading all those dysutopia novels about rebel, revolution... (They’re all the same! I just don’t get it why everyone loves them so much…they are good, but…) This book contains all the ingredient that needs to be in a YA novel: adventures, romance, villain... It’s a mixed of Percy Jackson and The House of Night, maybe some of The Vampire Academy. (At least…for me, but I only read the first two book of Vampire Academy…perhaps I’ll finish them someday.) We got an academy life, lots of lots of trouble inside the book and all those descendants of warrior in the ancient time.

Phantom of the Opera  By Andrew Lloyd Webbe   Warning! What I'm going to write about isn't book! This is a musical and movie review! Not a book review! (I can hardly finish that book though)   I know, it was a long time ago since the Phantom of the Opera was released, and it'll continue to go on and on and on and... So I'm not going to talk about the story but the difference between movie, broadway musical, and the 25th anniversary performance at the Royal Abert Hall. The first time I fall in love...

The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest (A Medieval Fairy Tale) By Melanie Dickerso A beautiful maiden who poaches to feed the poor. A handsome forester on a mission to catch her. Danger and love are about to unite in Thornbeck Forest. I always thought I'm immune to romance, romance novels, romantic movies...something sort of. However, I lost my heart every time I read Melanie Dickerson's novels...I can hardly contain myself, it is so good! She created beautiful stories and I found myself trapped in again and again. (Sigh...and I have no way to stop that from happening...) I almost forget, this book is also about fairytale retelling! (It might be the last one recently, I'm going to move to another category). It's adapted from The Swan Lake and Robin Hood. And the main character, Odette, just happen to be the same name as the swan princess. (I love this fairy tale so much!)

The Twelve Dancing Princesses Series By Jessica Day George Princess of the Midnight Ball (The twelve dancing princess) Princess of Glass (Cinderella) Princess of the Silver Wood (Red riding hood & Robin hood)   Here comes another beautiful series of fairytale retelling! Jessica Day George’s retelling series blend magic, romance, and mystery all together. The twelve beautiful princesses: Rose, Lily, Jonquil, Hyacinth, Violet, Iris, Lilac, Daisy, Pansy, Poppy, Petunia, Orchid… (I’m sure the oldest and the youngest are in the right order, as for the six in the middle…I hope they are, it’s so exhausted to type all their name! Especially Lilac! She didn’t appear in the book many times, it’s so hard to find her name). The princesses were named after flowers since their mother loved her enchanted garden so much. The series’ biggest enemy was King Under Stone, when he seemed to been disappeared, his influence was still there, haunting the princesses’ lives.

Princess of the Silver Wood By Jessica Day George   Finally, the last battle has come…except the sad thing is that the book is over!!! No!!! (Screaming all the way…). The last book form the twelve dancing princesses is an exciting adaption of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood. We get beautiful forest, wolves, red cloak. Who can ask for more? (That’s the story about…sorry, I’m out of my mind). After ten long years, the princesses were once again cursed by the King Under Stone. (Wait, wasn’t he died? Oh oh…his dreadful sons were back. Sigh…)   Princess Petunia has been kidnapped! Expect…it was really more like an accident. Oliver, the leader of a band of thieves known as the Wolves of the Westfalian Woods, didn’t MEAN to do it. And now he must make things right. He will confess to the king and deliver the princess to the grand duchess’s estate.   But Petunia’s safety is far from secured. As children, she and her eleven sisters had been cursed to dance endlessly at...

Princess of glass By Jessica Day George One good CURSE leads to ANOTHER…   The second book of the twelve dancing princesses series, an alternate adapted story of Cinderella. I'd fallen in love with the way that was written in the first book and had expected to read the second book since then.      Having once been cursed to dance every night with her sisters, Princess Poppy has vowed never again to put on a pair of dancing slippers. Which is why she’s reluctant to participate in the royal exchange program that her father and some of their neighbor kings have cooked up.   Life in far-off Breton isn’t so bad, not when there’s money to be won playing cards and a handsome prince promising friendship…and maybe something more. But with a helpless servant named Eleanora enters the picture and sets her sight on the prince, too, which girl will win his heart?   And who is behind the magnificent gowns and slippers that the penniless Eleanora has be...

Princess of the Midnight Ball By Jessica Day George What young girl wouldn’t love to dance away her nights in this splendid castle, in the arms of a handsome prince?   Here comes another fairy tale retelling series! I decided to read this book after I finish Entwined, and it's worthy of it! I just can't help myself but fall in love with all the fairy tale retelling, especially those with was adapt from The Twelve Dancing Princesses. (I also love the Barbie movie! The music is great and the scenes are enchanting! I know…a little too old for that)   As the crown princess, Rose is never without a dancer partner. She and her eleven sisters are treated to beautiful gowns, slippers, and dances at party after party in their father’s palace. But their evenings do not end when the guests return home. Instead, Rose and her sisters must travel deep into the earth to the wicked King Under Stone’s palace. There, the girls are cursed to dance each night, even when they grow e...

The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel  By Melissa de la Cruz Evil tree. Bad Apple?    We have a Disney fairy tale novel! How could I miss it? I was so excited when I heard there'll be a new Disney original movie, and what's better, it's not happily ever story but a villain story! So it turned out, I ordered the book immediately. At first I thought it'll be a movie novel, but it's actually a prequel of the movie Descendants.    Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon to the Isle of the Lost--a dark and dreary place protected by a force field that makes it impossible for them to leave. Stripped of their magical powers, the villains now live in total isolation, forgotten by the world.    Mal learns from her mother, Maleficent, that the key to true darkness, the Dragon's Eye, is located inside her scepter in the forbidden fortress on the far side of the island. The eye is cursed, and whoever ret...

Fairy Tale Romance Series By Melanie Dickerson 1. The Healer's Apprentice ( The Sleeping Beauty )  2. The Merchant's Daughter ( Beauty and the Beast )  3. The Fairest Beauty ( Snow White ) 4. The Captive Maiden ( Cinderella ) 5. The Princess Spy ( The Frog Prince ) 6. The Golden Braid (Rapunzel) ( Not publish yet...but I'll put the review on as soon as I finish it)   About the connection between those books. Rose and Lord Hamlin (The Healer's Apprentice) are the parents of Gabe (The Fairest Beauty), Valten (The Captive Maiden), and Margaretha (The Princess Spy). And Colin (The Princess Spy) is the grandson of Annabel and Ranulf (The Merchant's Daughter). 

The Princess Spy  By Melanie Dickson (Fairy Tale Romance Series) A new suitor.  A shocking discovery.   Here comes the fifth book! A great adaption of the Frog Prince. Actually, I'm not really familiar with this fairy tale story... I guest it's about a prince who was turn into a frog and asked a princess to kiss him? But I see little connection with this book...   Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook and left for dead. And only Margaretha-one of the few who speaks his language-understands the wild story. Margaretha finds herself unable to pass Colin's message along to her father, the duke, and convinces herself Lord Colin is just an addled stranger. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well, and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Marga...

The Captive Maiden By Melanie Dickson (Fairy Tale Romance Series) Happily Ever After … Or Happily Nevermore?   Oh My God! I was extremely in love with this book!!! My first choice among the whole series is this one, and it's also the book make me in love with Melanie Dickerson's books.  So let's take a look at the beautiful Cinderella adaption story!   Gisela’s childhood was filled with laughter and visits from nobles such as the duke and his young son. But since her father’s death, each day has been filled with nothing but servitude to her stepmother. So when Gisela learns the duke’s son, Valten—the boy she has daydreamed about for years—is throwing a ball in hopes of finding a wife, she vows to find a way to attend, even if it’s only for a taste of a life she’ll never have. To her surprise, she catches Valten’s eye. Though he is rough around the edges, Gisela finds Valten has completely captured her heart. But other forces are bent on keeping the two ...

The Fairest Beauty By Melanie Dickerson A daring rescue.  A difficult choice. The third book of the series, which is adapt from the fairy tale Snow White. I must admit, I never like Snow White...so I guest this kind of affect the point I read this book. But this is still a great book, just not my favorite one. And I think this one is not so similar to Disney movie if you compare to the last two books.   Sophie desperately wants to get away from her stepmother’s jealousy, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be Sophie’s one chance at freedom—but can she trust another person to keep her safe?   Gabe defied his parents Rose and Wilhelm by going to find Sophie, and now he believes they had a right to worry: the girl’s inner and outer beauty has enchanted him. Though romance is impossible—sh...

The Merchant's Daughter By Melanie Dickerson  An Unthinkable Danger.  An Unexpected Choice. The second book of the fairytale retelling story is The Merchant's Daughter. Adapt from Beauty and the Beast. This version is like the mix of Disney movie and the 2014 French movie (extremely fascinating~ and the custom...so gorgeous, make me want to own every pieces of them). Beautiful and Dark, both contain in the story. ( And Annabel love to read! How wonderful!) (Reading this book make me want to read Bible~ Besides the character, this book contains a lot of God. Actually, it’s the most appear character in the whole series…) Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf le Wyse, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. Her circumstances are made even worse by the proximity unwelcome advances on Annabel in the past. Believing that lif in a nunnery is the best way to escape the bailiff’s vile beh...

The Healer’s Apprentice By Melanie Dickerson Two Heart. One Hope . This series is so great! Melanie Dickerson's Fairy tale retelling stories mix romance, history, and adventure together. The first book is The Healer's Apprentice. The adaption of Sleeping Beauty.  Rose has been appointed as a healer’s apprentice at Hagenheim Castle. A rare opportunity for a wood-cutter’s daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood. Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Future will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her – a bloated, disgusting merchant who make Rose feel ill.  When Lord Hamlin, the future duck, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she’s never felt before and wonders if he feel the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. As Rose’s life spins toward confusion...

Doon  By  Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon   Veronica doesn’t think she’s going crazy. But why can’t anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna’s great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation.   Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica’s daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they’ve longed for… or they c...

Entwined by  Heather Dixon Come and mend your broken hearts here.    Ohhh~ I have a broken heart too…where is my beautiful pavilion? (But please…no keeper) Such an amazing book! Every set the author wrote was so romantic that we can’t help but fall in love with it. A remarkable adaption of the old fairy tale, the twelve dancing princesses. The author mixed the ingredients of fantasy, romance and family, and it becomes a great success.   Just when Azalea should feel that everything is before her—beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing—it's taken away. All of it. And Azalea is trapped. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. So he extends an invitation.   Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest, but there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in...