"All the Stars and Teeth"

 "All the Stars and Teeth"

Written by Adalyn Grace

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

All the Stars and Teeth jumps out onto the young adult fantasy scene, boasting a magical and swashbuckling tale of pirates, legendary monsters, and dark magic. Princess Amora's parents are the king and queen of Visidia. Amora may not claim her right to heir to the kingdom, unless she learns how to master her island's magic, soul magic. The other island citizens practice other types of magic: elemental, enchantment, mind, time, restoration, and curses. Amora's call to action arrives from the catalyst: Kaven, a member of the exiled curse island, is planning a revolution to win the kingdom. Amora must team up with Bastian, a secretive pirate, Ferrick, her bumbling fiance, and Vataea, a beautiful but dangerous mermaid. 

Amora's tale was very entertaining. Adalyn Grace's writing style is detailed, fun, and thorough. Grace provides fantastic legends and history of the kingdom. The plot follows an aquatic adventure full of sailing, dark creatures, strange yet opulent locations, and a brilliant battle sequence. With a toned down love triangle, the story tends to focus much more on Amora's ambition to save the kingdom and her courage, which is a refreshing take in comparison to many other entries in the genre. There are many heart-pounding and exciting scenes, especially during the fight sequences. I also loved the small scenes in which our crew sought information, like when they entered the barracuda club.

The characters in the story were likeable and entertaining. Bastian is handsome and cocky, while Ferrick is awkward and nervous, afraid of everything. Vatea is headstrong while cautious. While Amora is protective of her kingdom, she is not selfish. As secrets become unveiled about herself, Bastian, and the kingdom, Amora stays calm and recognizes the importance of the events at hand, without being blinded by emotion. Amora's character is a strong and healthy protagonist, one that I think can be a great role model.

I really enjoyed this novel, but it does not feel like a brand new favorite. I felt that the novel dragged in some places. Additionally, the novel felt a bit confusing at times, giving us large chunks of exposition about the kingdom. Lastly, I felt the villain and his reveal were a tad lackluster. The stakes did not pay out to be high enough, leaving Kaven to feel a bit boring and not very frightening. The last act of the story progressed so quickly, it felt too rushed. I feel that if you might enjoy a Disney princess in a Marvel movie story with pirates and legendary creatures, you'll like it. It's a lot of fun, and I look forward to a sequel if it comes!

I rate this story at four out of five stars.

I received a finished copy from Titan Books to read and review. Thank you to the publishing company for the opportunity.

"The Hobbit"

“The Hobbit, or There and Back Again”

Written by J.R.R. Tolkien

Review written by Diana Iozzia

As a new fan of the film series “The Lord of the Rings”, I found that reading the source material was vital to my further enjoyment. In reality, reading “The Hobbit” was a completely strange experience to me, because as much as I wanted to like it, in comparison to “LOTR”, I felt that it fell flat for me.

“The Hobbit” follows the first major adventure we see Bilbo Baggins in. There are also great, interesting details about the world of Middle Earth, the history, and the types of creatures that exist in this realm. I found many of the characters to be familiar to me, as I have seen the films. In addition, there are fun and exciting other characters that I was reading about for the first time. The broad spectrum of Middle Earth was very loveable, especially with the wonderful scenery and descriptions.

The book starts out with an ordinary morning for Bilbo, interrupted by Gandalf and rascally dwarves, begging him to accompany them for their next adventure. Their goal is to recover the reign of the Lonely Mountain and treasure stolen by the great and devilishly clever dragon, Smaug. During this great and whimsical adventure, Bilbo and crew run into many interesting creatures.

I felt that I enjoyed this story, in a fun, childlike way. This reminded me of Disney movies I used to love, like “Peter Pan”. I missed, however, the more serious and more truthful aspects about humanity, that I came to love in “The Lord of the Rings”. The horrors and toils of war, evil, the dark sides of humans, and love were absent in “The Hobbit”, save the fifteen pages dedicated to the Battle of the Five Armies.

We have the villain, Smaug, who is a really cool antagonist. His clever dialogue and language are a delight to read. In addition, the initial meeting of Gollum was a really fun one. Gollum and Bilbo engage in a lightning round of riddles that was a really fun portion of the book. As mentioned earlier, this is more of a whimsical and silly book, rather than the hearty balance in “LOTR”. There aren’t many intense and sad scenes, which was strong in contrast to what I was hoping for.

In the end, this was a very entertaining read, but it was not as exciting for me as I expected. Now, onto the daunting task of reading “The Lord of the Rings” and the rest of Tolkien’s work. Tune back in four years, probably.