Finding "Long Live the Pumpkin Queen"

October is fast approaching and the cooler temperatures and changing leaves always put me in the mood for some Halloween themed reads. The creepier, the better. 

I am kicking off my Halloween reading season with a blast from my past. "Long Live the Pumpkin Queen" by Shea Ernshaw is the long awaited sequel to Tim Burton's Gothic Halloween classic, "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 

I LOVED "The Nightmare Before Christmas" when I was kid. I loved the spooky, creepy vibes of Halloween Town, the disgustingly delightful residents, the skeleton who longed for something more than just screams and scares, and the unrequited love a rag doll had for the King of Halloween. 

"Long Live the Pumpkin Queen" picks up where "The Nightmare Before Christmas" left off. Sally and Jack are newly married and are settling into their new roles, Jack as a husband and Sally as the Queen of Halloween. Sally, who has always watched everything from the shadows, suddenly finds herself thrust into the light, and she struggles with the expectations the residents of Halloween Town have for her as their new Queen. New dresses, crowns, parties to plan. It is overwhelming for someone like Sally who has spent most of her life being overlooked or ignored. 

Despite Sally's desperate love for Jack, and his love for her in return, Sally finds herself wishing she can once again fade into the shadows, just for a bit, just to have some quite and be alone without all the expectations being thrust upon her. 

And Sally gets her wish.

After a night away from the noise and chaos of Halloween Town, Sally returns to find all the residents of Halloween Town, including Jack, trapped within a deep sleep from which they cannot awaken. Halloween Town is finally quiet, but Sally realizes that she in not alone. 

There is a monster in Halloween town. A monster that doesn't belong there.

This monster is responsible for the forced slumber of the residents of Halloween Town and it won't let them wake.  And it wants Sally next.

Sally must put aside her fear and set off to new worlds to find someone who can help her save her beloved Jack and the residents of Halloween Town before it's too late. 

New revelations come to light about the holiday worlds and about Sally herself as Sally desperately tries to find a way to defeat the monster that has taken over Halloween Town and free its inhabitants from their never ending nightmares.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While it is targeted towards a middle grade/young adult audience, I believe it is going to be a favorite for readers of any age who enjoyed "The Nightmare Before Christmas". I loved Sally's character growth in this story. Although she played her part in saving Christmas in the original film, she definitely deserved her own story. This novel helped Sally grow from the shy, awkward rag doll who thought the Pumpkin King would never notice her, to a strong confident Queen who would go to great lengths to protect those she loves.

The romance between Sally and Jack was innocent and sweet, adding a heartwarming feeling to this otherwise dark and twisty tale. 

If you are in the mood for a light, spooky, Halloween read, then look no farther that "Long Live the Pumpkin Queen".

Finding "Water's Calling"

 Water's Calling came across my Facebook feed a couple of months ago from one of the book groups I follow, and I'll admit it was the cover that drew me in first. 

I love stories that have the ocean or water as a central component: shark stories, ocean survival stories, pirate stories... you name it. 

So when I read the author's post about this book and she claimed to be a big Sarah J Maas fan, and that her work had inspired portions of this story, I knew I had to give it a shot. 

Water's Calling is LeRain's call to adventure. LeRain is a demi-god, a daughter of tempest, who has the ability to breath underwater and control the element. She has grown up in a world that reviles blends, or those of mixed nonhuman heritage. With her blue skin and green hair, LeRain has no hope of blending in with the rest of the humans who inhabit the small harbor where she grew up with her human mother. 

LeRain's safe, if somewhat boring existence, is suddenly shattered when the "Royals", a group of prejudiced, hate-filled humans, start terrorizing and killing non-humans and blends from all over the continent and start driving the world to the brink of another debilitating war. 

Spurred into action by tragedy, LeRain and a small group of nonhuman allies must take on the "Royals" and rid the world of their infection before their ideologies spread to all parts of the world. She has to master her powers and find a way to save her friends, both new and old, from a new and deadly weapon that has been created by the "Royals".

This story is filled with hope, tragedy, love, action and adventure. It definitely had a similar feel to Throne of Glass in terms of world building, but the main character, Rain, was much more unsure of herself throughout most of the story than Celaena was, and she was not instantly amazing during conflicts or fight scenes. 

This was a longer story, which is to be expected in this type of fantasy adventure, so there were definitely some slower parts to the story. I'll admit, there were times I was frustrated with LeRain's hesitancy or lack of action in crucial scenes towards the beginning of the story. However, the last 10 percent of the story made me excited to read the next installment. I can't wait to see how LeRain continues to grow as a character and I am excited to watch her grow into her powers. 

There were a couple of grammatical errors in the story and some formatting issues with the dialog, but nothing that detracts from the story overall.

I am very glad that I took a chance on Water's Calling and I look forward to the next installment.