Rest of March books - children's books

Continuing my Narnia reread, next up was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This book has many of the same characters as Prince Caspian, and introduces the Pevensies' cousin Eustace Scrubb, a deeply annoying stuck-up brat. In the first two books, the Pevensies were called (or blundered into) Narnia to save it from an invading colonizing force; in this one, Edmund and Lucy (and Eustace) just get to chill on the Dawn Treader and go on cool interesting adventures with Caspian (now King) without any specific quest they have to do. Don't Peter and Susan deserve such a vacation?? The gang only has like 2 near-death experiences instead of being in near-constant danger and discomfort! Only 3 years have passed for Narnia, instead of the 1,000 or so in Prince Caspian. Each chapter deals with a new adventure, as Caspian and co. find out what happened to his fathers' friends who went that way some 20+ years before them and were never heard from again. They also try to get to the end of the world. I love VotDT, as the stakes aren't very high (in one adventure, Caspian, the Pevensies and Eustace are kidnapped into slavery but are rescued like 2 hours later) and the different adventures are fun and fascinating to read about. The pacing and vibe is different from the first two books; reluctant readers might do better with this one. 4.5 stars, permanent collection. I read the copy from my OG Dillons cover art series. Trigger warnings for this book: horror (psychological mostly), suspense and creepiness, death (off-page), dragon cannibalism, slavery, bullying, greed, period-typical sexism, feminism depicted as stupid (sole feminist sentiments given to worst, most annoying character), danger, animal bullied (altho Reep can take care of himself), swords and weapons, pro-monarchy statements, they almost run out of drinking water on the boat at one point

I feel like I bought A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston (illustrator) from Barnes & Noble, although of course at this point I have no record of that. I bought it several years ago and displayed it propped up on top of my AC unit, then finally read it in March. Summary below:

A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy and calling him away on an adventure. Through forests of fairy tales and across mountains of make-believe, the two travel together on a fantastical journey that unlocks the boy’s imagination. Now a lifetime of magic and adventure lies ahead of him . . . but who will be next? 

 It's exactly the kind of picture book I love to read: full of book love, wonder, and whimsical illustrations. It leaves you with such a wonderful, warm feeling after reading it. I was surprised by how grayscale the illustrations were, however; while beautiful, creative, and text-based (the text is taken from classic works of literature and classic children's books), hardly any colors were used in the illustrations. I would have also liked to see more diversity; both children appear to be white. I do highly recommend this book, especially to metabook lovers (metabook = books about books). 4.5 stars, keeping. Trigger warnings for this book: if I remember correctly, the children get into slightly dangerous situations? being chased by trolls etc. but nothing major or "real"

Book Review: A School for Brides by Patrice Kindl

I probably picked up A School for Brides: A Story of Maidens, Mystery, and Matrimony from the dollar store, since it seems newish, although the thrift store is also a contender. I bought it because it seemed frothy and bubbly and fun, and it kind of was. Summary:

The Winthrop Hopkins Female Academy of Lesser Hoo, Yorkshire, has one goal: to train its students in the feminine arts with an eye toward getting them married off. This year, there are five girls of marriageable age. There’s only one problem: the school is in the middle of nowhere, and there are no men. 

This book takes place sometime in the Regency era, as there are references to pelisses and Napoleon. The writing tone is that fun retro tone, as if the book were written during that time by a Regency person (albeit one with some modern sensibilities). The setting reminded me of a Regency romance novel I'd read a while back, which was also about a young ladies' school set in a remote English village/town with few marriage prospects. That one was different, though as it was purposefully a refuge for girls who wanted a different life than they were expected to have (i.e. bluestockings and headstrong girls). I want to say it was by Tessa Dare? Some decently big romance writer. That series was more bodice-ripper, and very different than this book, so no copying was going on.

 The author makes the choice to refer to everyone by the way they would be referred to in society. This means all the girls are referred to as Miss Crabbe etc., which was somehow much more confusing than if they'd been named to us as Mary or Rosalind. Luckily there is a character names and descriptions list in the front of the book, which was very helpful. Still, all the girls, except for a few archetypes (the 12 year old baby of the school, the extremely shy possibly autistic girl, the wiseass comedian girl, the probably aroace bluestocking), kind of swam together. The same was true for the older/married women (I got some step/sisters confused). Robert the himbo footman is a beautiful cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. The other men were ok, I guess. No real standouts, save of course for the scoundrels (just gross, not sexy).

I would categorize this book as a young adult comic historical Regency mystery romance. There were a lot of storylines in this book, and while some were more interesting than others, I still enjoyed reading them. I figured out the two mysteries pretty quickly, and found the shy anxious girl's sad storyline very suspenseful. While we didn't spend enough time with each couple's relationship development, making their engagements seem a bit fast/out of nowhere, I felt that each storyline ended satisfyingly. I love the idea and setting of a girls' finishing school, but to provide romantic prospects for even the four oldest girls is a lot of storylines and characters to follow. 

Anyway, I did enjoy this book, and would read the next one (sort of a prequel about the step/sisters). Recommended for lovers of light fun Regency romances.

Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: March 29-30
From: dollar store?
Status: give away/sell

Cover notes: A cute pastel cover, which makes this book seem more frothy and chick lit-y than it is. The font is very '90s chick lit and an interesting choice.

Trigger warnings for this book (rather spoiler-y I'm afraid): Abusive, bullying, controlling nanny/parental figure; adult bullies possibly neurodivergent child, including making her stand on the edge of a tower because she's afraid of heights; absent and neglectful parents; golddigger older man stalks and tries to groom teenage girl into marrying him for her inheritance (otherwise no inappropriate discussions/actions); children tied to borderline-abusive wooden "posture" frames for a period of time; period-typical sexism; dating deception; classism; descriptions of dangerous old medical practices (i.e. leeches)