Blog Tour: The Princess and the Peacock (Bird of Fae #1) by C.S. Johnson [Review/Giveaway]

The Princess and the Peacock
(Birds of Fae #1)

By: C.S. Johnson

Publication Date: January 25, 2019

Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Retelling

SYNOPSIS

The first time I fell in love with Princess Mele was when I saw her smile, and I fell in love with her the second time the moment I heard her sing.

Two memories burn within Kaipo’s heart — the death of his mother, which left him alone to die, and the arrival of Princess Mele, which gave him a new reason to live. Together with his adopted brother, Kaipo seeks out Jaya, the Fae Queen who lives on the Forbidden Mountain, in order to gain the beauty he requires to win Mele’s heart. But Jaya has other plans for the scarred outcast who climbs up her mountain …

The Princess and the Peacock is the first in Birds of Fae, a fantasy fairy tale novella series from C. S. Johnson.

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PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon

REVIEW

I don’t know whether to call this novella a fairy tale retelling that mixes together elements of Aladdin with Beauty and the Beast together while changing up certain details as well. For the most part, the story here works and its especially well structured to fit the novella length. C.S. Johnson gives the characters and plot development enough depth to make it good while still having the proper pacing to make it intriguing to read. In the end, this is somewhat a story about our Peacock here, Kaipo who learns to embrace inner beauty and not view so heavily and value himself for more than his appearances. There are values of traditions, morals, loyalty, friendship, brotherhood. The positive messages portrayed here all come together nicely at the end. The characters are numerous and yet seem to serve their own purpose in the story which is always good to have.

The only issue with the story itself is the feeling that there was never much of climactic point. Things seemed to be fairly flat and predictable as the plot points would be fairly contrived and lacked a bit of natural progression. What I mean to say is that things happen, such as in the beginning, the brother and the peacock end up encountering a prince who then takes them and happens to also be going to the palace and offers them as a gift for the hand of the princess. There is also an effort to slowly reveal what makes Kaipo so in love with the princess and we soon find out. There is a whole revelation but probably because this is a fairy tale retelling of sorts, it still has a lot of similarities to other stories that makes it lack the more impactful sort of story. Its not saying that its not still pretty good because it is well-written and packs in a lot of next technical bits from character to understanding the world where its set.

Goodreads rating: 3/5 (if there was half points, this would be 3.5/5)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C. S. Johnson is the award-winning, genre-hopping author of several novels, including young adult sci-fi and fantasy adventures such as the Starlight Chronicles, the Once Upon a Princess saga, and the Divine Space Pirates trilogy. With a gift for sarcasm and an apologetic heart, she currently lives in Atlanta with her family. Find out more at http://www.csjohnson.me

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GIVEAWAY

Print copy of The Princess and the Peacock

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TV Binge: Once Upon A Time (Season 4, 2014)

It has been WAY too long since the last time I watched Once Upon A Time. I watched Season 3 at least 2 years ago. Look at them now, its Season 7 and apparently the whole cast has changed. Anyways, I finally decided it was time so here we are. Hopping into Season 4 knowing only that Frozen princesses are included in the mix.

Once Upon a Time (Season 4)

Creator: Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis

Cast: Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Lana Parilla, Jared Gilmore, Josh Dallas, Colin O’ Donoghue, Emilie de Ravin, Robert Carlyle, Rebecca Mader, Sean Maguire, Victoria Smurfit, Georgina Haig, Kristin Bauer van Straten Elizabeth Lail, Merrin Dungey

I’ve always like how people use the fairy tale characters and twist their stories or their nature. That is exactly what Once Upon a Time has always excelled at. Jumping back in, it feels like I never left with the exception of a few details that I needed to read up to remind myself or most that came naturally through the characters’ conversations. Season 4 is an all around fun time. Its pretty much split into a few plots. The first is how Elsa is stuck in Storybrooke and then Anna and Kristoff also get there and they realize that its the Snow Queen that has been behind this the whole time. The second being of Rumpelstiltskin who wants to get his bond broken from the dagger so he can have his happy ending and this leads us to the hunt for the writer of Henry’s Storybook and also bringing in three villainesses: Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella de Vil.

These three plot lines were all great. For one, Elsa and Anna when this series aired was probably riding the wave from Disney’s Frozen. Its costume and characters are also inspired by it. All factors that work well. They do brings in how the Snow Queen factors into all of this. We will discuss villains later. Elsa and Anna’s tale factors into the whole Prince Charming link and its really nice to see how everyone works together. Putting that one aside, the hunt for the author started out for Regina and a little secret project she had with Henry. Its incredible to see that Regina having a lot of growth here even in one dangerous moments somewhat mocking her old self. Emma and Hook also have the center stage which I love to death. If only they could have just one moment of peace and be together, that would be so great.

The villains here are quite inspired. The Snow Queen’s final showdown was pretty great as it brought a lot of quarrel which in some part was more comedic than anything. Another plan going awry send Rumpelstiltskin to his depths as he searches for his happy ending and its pretty fun to watch them get pulled back into another story and get back out then proving that no matter what villains come into the picture, and how competent they could be like Cruella de Vil, Ursula and Maleficent, Rumpelstiltskin is still the most powerful enemy they could have. Is that more a compliment on how great of a character they’ve created or that the writers are out of ideas on how to create better villains? I choose the former because I’m a fan of the show and this season still was pretty good.

Season 4 was a jam-packed affair though. There were tons of plots and tangents. It had so many characters enter the scene and they tried to give them all a backstory while also dealing with the going ons of Storybrooke. It might have been a slight overkill but at least it never gets boring and thats all good for me.

Thats it this TV binge! Its time for Season 5! 

TaleSpins (TaleSpins #1-3) by Michael Mullin

After a nice weekend off from mostly everything online, I’m happy to be back writing again. It was something that I needed a lot to just sit back and take some time to break out of the normal routine. Its a new week and time for more writing. Next up is a book review of TaleSpins which is technically three short stories put together into this one book.

Let’s check it out!

TaleSpins (TaleSpins #1-3)
by: Michael Mullin

A trilogy of alternative fairytales and retellings. Discover the real Snow White story through the eyes of Creepy, the unknown 8th dwarf! Meet a teen princess who hires “The Frog Prince” witch to get revenge on a Mean Girl! And learn how the giant, boy thief and magic beans tale truly went down! – Goodreads

I love reading fairy tales and the retellings are usually so fun as well. Disney makes them suitable for all ages and in many ways, tells some of these stories without the true darkness it may have. However, perhaps its how innocent we know all these stories that when they retold, it turns into a darker affair. TaleSpins’ three story is set up in a deeper story, adding in characters and events while putting it into a sing song rhyme poetry sort of way. Because of this new approach, it is a refreshing take on how we read these unique stories.

The first story in this trilogy is a spin on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and its called The 8th Dwarf, an awkward dwarf that was punished to live in the basement of the dwarves home. This character intercepted the story really well and definitely was the best of the three stories here.  The second story is based on The Frog Prince and somehow was taken with bullying and a girl trying to get revenge on a classmate in an extreme way. Also an interesting take as the endeavor of it was for the girl to succeed however the Frog Prince character here takes a more conscience sort of role and teaches us a little lesson. The last story is a take on Jack and the Beanstalk which actually turns things around as we see the ogre being the centre of attentiom instead of Jack who really if you think about it is a thief.

TaleSpins is a collection of three short stories and they are pretty fast to get through. I like reading poetry and rhyming pieces out loud, so that worked for me and had me really invested. However, as the story gets into the longer sentences, I started wishing this was a physical book to really see the sentence structure better. The writing and language is very polished as well. Overall, a pretty good read. Mostly the last story fell flat for me a little in the middle but still a solid entry to the retellings of these three stories.

Have you read TaleSpins?

But I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairy tales

Today’s daily prompt: Take a quote from your favorite movie — there’s the title of your post. Now, write!

August Rush is definitely one of my favorite movies.  The first time I watched this movie, it just reached out to me.  I can relate to how he feels, partially can relate to his situation.  I’m not a music prodigy but music is what always pulls me out of that dark place.  Its always been there to help me move forward and see things better, to express how I feel and understand myself a bit better.  Its my constant companion when I need to think things through.

There’s so many quotes in this movie that are just epic to me! I mean it gets me all emotional…every sentiment comes rushing to me. Judging from what I’ve seen about, this movie isn’t really appreciated but to me, it means a lot more.

Can you hear it? The music..I can hear it everywhere, in the wind, in the air, in the light. Its all around us. All you have to do is open yourself up and listen!

Doesn’t that just make you feel relaxed? I do that sometimes.  Just close my eyes and shut out every though and focus in on the little sounds around me.  I do that mostly when I’m somewhere in nature, not in the middle of the city.  It brings upon me peace of mind to listen to the water flowing, the wind whistling through the branches, the bird chirping…you catch my drift, right?

You never quit on your music. No matter what happens. Cuz anytime something bad happens to you, that’s the one place you can escape to and just let it go. I learned it the hard way. And anyway, look at me. Nothing bad’s gonna happen. You gotta have a little faith. – August Rush

I wasn’t able to find a caption with the full quote but man, this is so awesome, right? That captures a huge part of my life and even now, when I’m feeling really stressed or bothered, I either turn on music and sing along or I go downstairs and play some piano and it immediately makes me better.  The power of music is just magical!

You know what music is? God’s little reminder that there’s something else besides us in this universe, a harmonic connection between all living beings, every where, even the stars.

To end it off, here is one of my favorite songs August Rhapsody! Love the simplicity behind it 🙂 Bringing our everyday sounds together, piece together your own experiences and voila..a piece of music from your heart.  Totally phenomenal and this is the final song so its just like a ball of emotions and I always shed some tears…

What does music mean to you in your life?