Leah Cypess

It took me a lot longer to finish Mistwood than I thought it would originally. While I liked the premise and enjoyed the story it didn't grip me the way books normally do when I get excited.

The comparisons to Tamora Pierce, Megan Whalen Turner and Kristin Cashore are pretty accurate as far as those things go. I don't like to make such comparisons, but I could understand why they were made. This is a straight fantasy; from the Kingdom to the politics and to the structure of the world itself this can't be considered any other way.

There have been varying reports on the characters. Some find them blah, some find them dynamic--they fall in the middle for me. I preferred Isabel before she began to understand who (and what) she was. I found it more intriguing to have her stumbling around in the dark about things. They told her the reason she felt protective of Rokan, but not why. They explained to her about what she was, but not who she was. They spent more time talking around her than to her and it frustrated her.

And she does feel something for Rokan, but she doesn't trust him or that feeling. She questions everything and for that I loved her. Then the truth begins to piece itself together. The growth of character relationships that were emerging suddenly got flung away and we're basically back at the beginning only now at least Isabel understands why she fled.

Rokan...I didn't like or dislike him. He was there and he occasionally made me like him a little more, but then just as easily there is plenty to make me dislike him. Do I think he ever meant anything maliciously? No. Do I think he was selfish and all problems could have been solved if there had been better communication? Yes and yes.

The ending made me a little sad, or that is the revelation about Clarisse (Rokan's sister). I was surprised, but it made sense. More sense than perhaps what eventually ended up happening to Isabel. And no, I don't think Rokan did the right thing. I was completely with his sister--why show mercy to those who would have shown none to you?… (mehr)

I thought this story was ok. I was expected more and from the synopsis and the title of the book, I was expecting it to be very action packed but you don't see much action until the end of the book. There were some scenes that had a little bit of action in it but they didn't last longer than a page. I did like all the characters. Ileni was sarcastic and funny, I loved her and Irun was the character you just loved to hate. Only thing is I'm kind of indifferent when it comes to Sorin (the love interest), he was ok but I didn't really care about him. There were some twists towards the end though some of it was predictable. I do hope the next book is better. It won't take place in the caves like this and Ileni won't just be teaching assassins magic so hopefully it will be a bit more action packed. Overall it was a decent first book, 3.5 stars.… (mehr)

Glass Slippers, by Leah Cypess

The story is rather dark. Tirza is Cinderella's 3rd step sister. She tries on the glass slippers and is accused of stealing them after. Most of the book is about her trying to find out what is really going on. To give a quick synopsis - the whole town has faerie blood. The glass slippers are magic and can only be worn by someone who has enough faerie blood to have tiny feet. Cinderella is just one of many potential wears. The king needed to marry someone with faerie blood to bring magic back to the royal family - he realizes that one of their two sons might have magic and leaves the slippers out for him to try on. (No agenda appearant in that, as the slippers seem to call to the faerie blooded people)
The slippers themselves are rather nefarious. They call to magic users, and give them power, but the power comes from their own blood. To activate the slippers one must either dance in them, or bleed into them. Lots of talk of cutting to give the slippers blood.
Pretty much the whole end of the book is a battle between the step sisters and Cinderella for the sisters. One of the sisters wears the slippers, having sliced off a significant portion of her heel to make them fit, and then is so greedy for power that slippers nearly consume her life and kill her. She is only saved by someone pulling a slipper off her foot. Eventually the slippers are shattered, temporarily ending the battle in favor of good. The end however seems to indicate that they will eventually pull themselves back together, so Cinderella and Tirza dump the glass shards into the ocean in hopes of not allowing the battle to resume. This is difficult for them to do as they have a strong connection/ addiction to the slippers.
There is a lot of cutting and bloodshed in this book.… (mehr)