Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Favorite Book | Ever Afters Blog Party!

















Welcome to the second day of the glorious festivities! Here's your party hat.

Top 7 Countdown
The playlist for Chase Turnleaf is, hands down, my favorite. You'll see a lot of those songs on this countdown. First up, at #6, Kings of Leon with Use Somebody:




Quote of the Day:
Of Giants and Ice, pg 340


For today's fan project, we'll be analyzing the individual books to answer one very specific question. Which one is your favorite so far? I know it's hard. There's so many good parts in all of them!

Personally, my favorite has to be Of Witches and Wind. I still can't get over the reveal of Chase's secret, and the dramatically different side of him we get to see here. This development, and how it pushes and challenges Rory, still blows me away, three rereads later. Plus, they get stuck in Atlantis together and get some more bonding time, which I love. There's also the other side of the story, with Rory and her dad, and how it's so perfectly integrated into the fairy tale side. I've always loved that Rory had to step out of Atlantis and finish part of the quest in Hollywood, and it heaps so much more on to her emotional development to have all that stuff happening at once. I feel like it has a lot more drama with Chase's side of the story, but it still retains all it's fun qualities. Basically, things are starting to get serious, but they're not too serious yet. Add in Chatty, Ben, their awesomely corny jokes, IRON HANS, and my very favorite scene at the end where Chase walks into her homeroom class -yep. OWAW is my favorite. ;)


What's Your Favorite Book?

Aurora H. says
Favorite book is so very difficult. But I'd have to say OWAW. Because though OSAS was the most heartbreaking emotional rollercoaster OWAW's character and plot development blows me away every time I read it. 'Nuff said.
Clare R
My favorite book of the series is Of Sorcery and Snow. The reason: Chaurora. There are other reasons, but that one’s very prominent.

And from Haley R
My favorite book of the series is Of Witches and Wind, which is funny because for the longest time it was my least favorite book.  It was just that I had figured out the Chatty and Mia thing in the first few chapters, so I always thought it was blatantly obvious.  It's not, but that always annoyed me a bit.  When I've reread it recently, though, I realized what a masterfully written book it is.  So much happens in the book and it never really even occurred to me.  In Of Giants and Ice, Rory was a strong character, but in Of Witches and Wind she's even stronger.  She is completely integrated in EAS, and it shows.  She is comfortable there, and though she probably doesn't know as much as Chase, she can find her way around fairly well.  It's also the book where Chase's big secret (one of them anyway) is revealed.  With the information that he's half-Fey in my mind, I'm reading OGAI and noticing things I never really counted as important, but now it's obvious that it is actually about his heritage.  Another part I found interesting is that OWAW focuses on Rory's dad and Brie and her relationship with them.  In the first book, the two characters are mentioned but they don't really have a large role.  We get to see the other side of Rory's family and watch her grapple with the fact that her dad is engaged and didn't even tell her. Rory also thinks that she's not strong enough to battle the Snow Queen, but she not faces her fears and doubts, she beats them.  
      Another important part of Of Witches and Wind is the introduction of a sort of gray area.  In Of Giants and Ice, everything is pretty black and white.  The Snow Queen is bad, EAS is good.  Pretty simple.  In OWAW, though, it becomes a little more complicated than that.  First, Chase and Rory meet Iron Hans. Considered one of the worst villains, they are surprised to find that he is actually... nice.  He says that he was once friends with Solange, which is why he helped her.  He also has the tale of the White Snake which reminds me of Evan and the problems he had with his Tale.  This lends a bit of familiarization to him and helps with sympathizing.  Then, they learn about the Snow Queen's past.  She was not always the horrible person they now know.  Her sister is Rapunzel, whom Rory is fairly close to and really likes.  Solange's mother died when she was younger, in the French Revolution, and both of her best friends were taken away when she was sixteen.  That would be enough to make anyone bitter.  They begin to realize that everything isn't always going to be clear-cut and even the people they thought were terrible might just be perceived that way, or it could be because of their circumstances
Sorry, that was really long.
No apologies necessary! This is a Blog Party; if we can't fangril here, where could we?

Thanks for stopping by again, fellow Characters! Before you go, don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY. This is, unfortunately, only open to citizens of the US. And if you haven't seen it, Shelby Bach is also doing a massive and magnificent batch of giveaways on her blog.

This giveaway will end on the 30th of June and I will announce the lucky winner on the 1st of July. The giveaway is only open to residents of the US.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Rory, Chase, and Lena have been getting a little antsy waiting for the outcome. They've taken to exploring my room when I'm not around. This is how I found them when I got home from work yesterday.

Rory: No, Chase, you can't take
the giant sword home.
Chase: Finders, keepers, Rory. This'll
look awesome hanging on my wall!

13 comments:

  1. AHHHHH! I LOVE THIS! I can't choose my favourite book. I love them all too much!
    Oh, um...Amanda, I entered the contest using different emails a few times, but I don't live in the USA. I live in Canada. Is there anyway you can NOT count the entries? Sorry for the confusion!

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    1. I know what you mean. They're all fantastic!
      I can do that, don't sweat it. ;)

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  2. I like Of Giants and Ice the best. The first book of a series is always so exciting, so full of possibilities. OGAI introduces a lot of questions but few answers. So many intriguing mysteries!

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    1. Seeing everything get started can be so fascinating! Every time I pick up this book I wind up reading it through the night. It's so hard to put down, especially once they're up the beanstalk.

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  3. I think that OWAW is probably my favorite book too, though all of them have good parts in them especially when you reread them with future books in mind.

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    1. Oh, these are some of the best books to reread! There's so much hiding in there; isn't it wonderful? I haven't decided yet whether I like the first read or rereading better. ;)

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    2. Same! I own the first two, but not OSAS, so when I want to reread that one I have to get it from the library. They're just so fun!

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  4. I may be in the minority, but I really loved Of Sorcery and Snow. I loved how Rory and Chase's relationship changes, loved the action with Lena and the little twists it had.

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    Replies
    1. It is such a spectacular book. It's (almost) impossible to pick favorites!

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