GREYMIST FAIR By Francesca Zappia

March 14, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

GREYMIST FAIR By Francesca ZappiaGreymist Fair by Francesca Zappia
Published by Greenwillow Books on 3/28/23
Genres: Fairy Tales & Folklore, Fantasy & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Retellings, Young Adult
Pages: 310
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Two roads lead into a dark forest. They meet at Greymist Fair, the village hidden in the trees, a place kept alive by the families that never leave. The people of Greymist Fair know the woods are a dangerous and magical place, and to set foot off the road is to invite trouble.

When Heike, the village’s young tailor, discovers a body on the road, she goes looking for who is responsible. But her quest only leads to more strange happenings around Greymist Fair.

Inspired by the original, bloody, lesser-known fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, acclaimed author Francesca Zappia crafts an enthralling murder-mystery that will keep readers turning the pages. Told from multiple points of view, with each narrative building on the crime discovered by Heike, Greymist Fair examines the themes of childhood fears, growing into adult responsibilities, and finding a place to call home amid the trials of life and death.

Short and Sweet Review

Greymist Fair is a village hidden in the trees. There’s only two roads that led into Greymist and the villagers know that leaving will only cause trouble. Heike, one of the villagers finds a body on the road and she decides to find out who is responsible, but on her quest she learns that there are other strange things happening in Greymist.

Greymist Fair is one interesting book. There are seven Grimm fairytales that are being retold and each story is told as a short story and they are all interwoven. Even though all of the stories connect I still felt like this book was disjointed. Heike is a character that is shown throughout the whole book and her story is the first one told, but she finds the solution to her mystery pretty quickly. If I’m going to be honest I think the rest of the stories are there just to show the other people who are in Greymist Fair and how it got to be the way it is. The other stories do tend to have different timelines than the one we originally started off in. I liked that the book was retelling lesser known Grimm fairy tales and I think that’s where the book shines, in its telling of short stories, but the way it was all supposed to come together it just fell short of what I think the author was trying to achieve.

Overall, Greymist Fair was an easy book to breeze through and I love how Zappia made the fairytales her own. The book would have been more successful if the stories came together in a better way, otherwise I think it would have been better if it wasn’t short stories but just one story and some of the characters had their own POVs. I would still recommend this book, I would just suggest going into it with a very open mind.

Filed Under: Reviews

KATZENJAMMER By Francesca Zappia

July 9, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

KATZENJAMMER By Francesca ZappiaKatzenjammer by Francesca Zappia
Published by Greenwillow Books on 6/28/22
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 304
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Cat lives in her high school. She never leaves, and for a long time her school has provided her with everything she needs. But now things are changing. The hallways contract and expand along with the school’s breathing, and the showers in the bathroom run a bloody red. Cat’s best friend is slowly turning into cardboard, and instead of a face, Cat has a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh.

Cat doesn’t remember why she is trapped in her school or why half of them—Cat included—are slowly transforming. Escaping has always been the one impossibility in her school’s upside-down world. But to save herself from the eventual self-destruction all the students face, Cat must find the way out. And to do that, she’ll have to remember what put her there in the first place.

Short and Sweet Review

Let me start of with saying this was one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read and I’m still not sure if it was good weird or bad weird. I feel like when people say their on an acid trip that’s what reading this book was like.

Our main character Cat lives in her high school she doesn’t remember how or why that is. Cat isn’t the only one who lives in the high school there are other students and they’re separated based on whether they still look normal or have been “changed.” When students are being murdered Cat takes it upon herself to figure out who’s killing the other students and stop them.

Honestly I don’t even know what was happening it was that trippy. The book goes back and forth between past and present so we can see what Cats life was like before she was stuck in the school and changed. In the present we see that the school is a living entity and some of the students had strange changes or powers. The book was okay I just don’t think it worked, maybe it would have been better if they were trapped in the school and it was the school that was alive and murderous but having the students have cardboard boxes and tentacles for arms just wasn’t it. Overall this was a fast read and definitely one of the strangest books I’ve read this year.

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NOW ENTERING ADDAMSVILLE By Francesca Zappia

September 30, 2019 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

NOW ENTERING ADDAMSVILLE By Francesca ZappiaNow Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia
Published by Greenwillow Books on 10/1/19
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy & Magic, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

When someone burns down the home of the school janitor and he dies in the blaze, everyone in Addamsville, Indiana, points a finger at Zora. Never mind that Zora has been on the straight and narrow since her father was thrown in jail. With everyone looking for evidence against her, her only choice is to uncover the identity of the real killer.

There’s one big problem—Zora has no leads. No one does. Addamsville has a history of tragedy, and thirty years ago a similar string of fires left several townspeople dead. The arsonist was never caught.

Now, Zora must team up with her cousin Artemis—an annoying self-proclaimed Addamsville historian—to clear her name. But with a popular ghost-hunting television show riling up the townspeople, almost no support from her family and friends, and rumors spinning out of control, things aren’t looking good. Zora will have to read between the lines of Addamsville’s ghost stories before she becomes one herself.


Short and Sweet

After the house of the school janitor burns down everyone in Addamsville points a finger at Zora, but Zora had nothing to do with it. Now Zora has to team up with her cousin Artemis to prove that she’s innocent which won’t be easy especially when her family has a reputation.

Characters

Zora: Zora Novak is an outcast in Addamsville and the other townspeople look at her as if she’s trouble. Zora’s mom disappeared when she was thirteen and soon after that her dad was sent to prison and Zora was taken care of by her sister Sadie. Zora has a hard exterior and I felt bad for her because she’s not a bad person she has good intentions and tries to keep the town safe but others don’t see it like that.

Artemis: Artemis and Zora are complete opposites. Artemis is sweet and in her own way tries to help even though she’s not able to see ghost like her cousin she can feel them and she also knows a lot about the town’s history which turns out useful. Artemis is more well off then Zora so she does end up saying things that offend Zora but she doesn’t mean it, its just because they’re from such different worlds.

Quotes

~ “She’d spent thirteen years teaching me everything she knew, but she’d never taught me how not to be scared.”

~ “I didn’t hate Addamsville at all. But Addamsville sure hated me.”

My Thoughts

~ In the town of Addamsville there’s a lot of ghost stories and now there’s a popular ghost hunting tv show coming to town, but what they don’t know is that the stories are very real.

~ Zora herself is a ghost hunter and its her job to get rid of them and there’s a certain kind called a fire starter and they start fires that burn fast and cause a lot of damage. Zora’s mom taught her everything she knows about ghost and cousin also knows about ghost and is supposed to be Zora’s partner.

~ A dangerous fire starter from Zora’s past is back and this time he’s determined to take her down and to do that he starts fires and tries to leave evidence proving it was Zora. Zora already has a a shaky reputation because people think she’s an arsonist which gives her more motivation to prove that the current fires being set aren’t her doing.

~ Zora’s mom disappeared when she was thirteen and her dad also got sent to prison for scamming some of the townspeople. So while her parents aren’t around it’s just Zora and her sister Sadie and they have a rough time because everyone in Addamsville has it out for them.

~ I liked that Zora and Artemis teamed up, they didn’t have the best relationship at first but I like how they learned more about each other and ow they did have each other’s back.

~ Zora didn’t have a lot of support from her friends or family and I felt bad because she’s not a bad person she just got dealt a bad hand.

Overall

I really liked this book! It really gets you in the mood for Halloween especially with all the ghost and the ghost hunter tv show. Zora was a great main character and you end up feeling for her, she doesn’t deserve all the hate she gets from people in town. The ending was so good and left me wanting more! I’m not sure if there’s going to be a sequel but I hope there is! Definitely check this book out, its an enticing story with ghost, ghost hunters, and a mystery about a small town in Indiana!

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Filed Under: Reviews

ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS By Francesca Zappia

August 2, 2019 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS By Francesca ZappiaEliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
Published by Greenwillow Books on 5/30/17
Genres: Contemporary, Mental Health, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble.

Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl meets Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona in this acclaimed novel about art, fandom, and finding the courage to be yourself. “A must-have.”—School Library Journal

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community.

Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school and Eliza begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.


Short and Sweet

In reality Eliza Mirk is shy, she doesn’t have many friends, and to others she’s weird. But online Eliza becomes LadyConstellation, she’s the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. When Eliza finds out that Wallace a new student at school is a big fan fiction writer of Monstrous Sea she just writes him off as another fan. But as Eliza becomes closer to Wallace she begins to wonder if maybe she could have a life outside of Monstrous Sea.

Characters

Eliza: Eliza is shy and is mainly in her own world, and that world is Monstrous Sea. Eliza is comfortable when she’s working on Monstrous Sea and when she’s online. Eliza was a relatable character just trying to get through senior, trying to figure out what she wants to do after high school and Monstrous Sea.

Wallace: Wallace doesn’t talk much after something that happened to him in the past. Although he doesn’t talk much it doesn’t bother Eliza because she also rarely talks in school. I thought Wallace was a great character he wants to be a writer and we also learn about his background and what makes Wallace who he is today.

Romance

Eliza and Wallace: Wallace is new in school and is in Eliza’s homeroom. After learning that they’re both Monstrous Sea fans they start to spend more time together. I liked these two together. As I mentioned earlier Wallace doesn’t talk much so when they’re in school they pass notes back in forth. What I liked most about this couple was that Wallace helped Eliza get out of her comfort zone, and Eliza helped Wallace believe he should follow his dream and become a writer.

My Thoughts

~ Eliza has worked hard on Monstrous Sea and its a popular web comic. One of my favorite things about the book was that we get to see pages from the web comic.

~ Eliza has two younger brothers and she lives with her parents. Her parents don’t understand why Monstrous Sea is so important to Eliza and they just want to spend more time with her. I think that even though Eliza doesn’t spend much time with her brothers they definitely came through for her in the end when they supported her after everyone found out that she was the creator of Monstrous Sea.

~ Eliza two friends are Max and Emmy and they’re her online friends we get to see their chats and text with each other. I liked how supportive they all were of each other even though they haven’t met in real life.

~ Eliza suffers from social anxiety, anxiety, and depression. Eliza try to keep everything bottled up but in the end she ends up having to see a therapist after everything becomes too much for her to handle.

~ I thought the plot was great and so was the pacing of the book. I liked seeing how at the start of the book Eliza isolates herself from people, then she meets Wallace and tries to get out of her comfort zone, to Eliza having to deal with her issues instead of keeping them bottled up.

Overall

I loved this book and I fell in Love with Eliza’s character. The plot and the characters were great and I loved getting to see some of the pages from Monstrous Sea and seeing the hard work that Eliza puts into her comics. The writing was realistic and it was hard to put this book down and it is now one of my favorite books!

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Filed Under: Reviews