{Review Redux} HERO by Alethea Kontis

Join us on tour all week!
1/26 – Launch 
1/27 – Shadowskin by Bethany Cassel – Cremona @ Mythical Books 
1/28 – Beyond the Fortuneteller’s Tent by Kristy Tate – Amber @ Wonderings of One Person 
1/29 – Enchanted Fairy Tales by Cindy C. Bennett - Kathy @ I Am A Reader 
1/30 – Enchanted/Hero by Alethea Kontis - Bonnie @ A Backwards Story 
1/31 – The Fairytale Keeper by Andrea Cefalo – Lisa @ Bookworm Lisa 
2/1 – Grand Finale

I've previously reviewed Alethea Kontis' novella BLOOD AND WATER, her debut novel ENCHANTED, and her newest novel, HERO.

I've also interviewed author Alethea Kontis, and interviewed ENCHANTED cover designer Christine Kettner! Alethea has also written a guest post on "Families in Fiction" for the HERO Blog Tour and written a short story for last year's Splash into Summer event entitled "Well Behaved Mermaids Rarely Make Fairy Tales!"

Today, I'm DELIGHTED to have been chosen to take part in The Fantastical Tour and once again have Alethea here!

(And, super-duper secret?? Alethea is swinging back next week to take part in A Week of Rapunzel with a brand-new and awesome Fairy Tale Rant!)

O P E N I N G   L I N E:

   SATURDAY DIED for the fifth time that morning. Her shallow breath gently stirred the dust of the practice field. She got to her feet, shook back the strands of hair that had come loose from her braid, and pushed a larger chunk behind her ear, mixing the sweat and soil there into mud. The one clean thing on her person was the thin band of blue-green fabric wrapped around the wrist of her sword arm, a remnant of the only dress Saturday had ever worn. No matter how disgusting she got, it seemed this magic bracelet was as immune to filth as Saturday was immune to injury. 

(pg. 1, US ARC edition)

This review was first posted at A Backwards Story on October 8, 2013.

Check out Alethea's HERO Blog Tour GUEST POST, "Families in Fiction," with Alethea!

You may be able to tell from all the aforementioned posts done previously with Alethea Kontis that I love her and her novels. ENCHANTED was such a great, fresh, unique fairy tale retelling. I've read it at least three times now, and I really, really like it. And you know what? HERO blows it out of the water. ENCHANTED who? It's nothing in comparison to HERO. That's saying something! It's also a completely different beast, less fairy tale and more original fantasy. There just...aren't even words. Trust me: it is so good.

Perhaps my favorite quote in the entire book!

Saturday is the next-to-youngest Woodcutter daughter, and the only normal one in the bunch. She hates being normal next to all of her gifted siblings. It doesn't matter that she can't be killed or that she has mad fighting skills; she doesn't even have a special name-day gift, only a boring, ordinary ax. She feels the least useful of them all. It isn't until Saturday falls into her own epic journey in a quest to save her brother that she discovers her own destiny and learns just what Destiny has in store for her.

Saturday is all about action, adventure, excitement. She could care less about flirting with boys or wearing the perfect ballgown. When she winds up with her own tale to tell, she's right in her element. She's also thrown-off guard, because she wasn't expecting to find herself trapped and mistaken for her trouble-making brother. She also never expected to fall in love, least of all with a guy like Peregrine. The romance builds perfectly. There's not a case of insta-love, and it wouldn't have worked if there had been. Saturday just isn't that type of girl. She works together with Peregrine to find a way out of their situation, and they don't always like one another, leading to a relationship that takes them both by surprise.

The emotions! The feels! HERO is one of those books that leaves you unable to put it down once it takes off. The imagination it took to create this world is vast, and I love that it felt like it could have been a fairy tale, even though it really wasn't one. I loved the descriptions, and really felt like I was there. I felt cold right alongside the characters as they froze. I was just as mesmerized by the sky. I had some serious feels while reading this one. Kontis also added her signature fairy tale mash-ups, which never fail to make me smile. There is so much more to Saturday than what meets the eye, and I was so sad to say goodbye to her. I'll see her again in future books, though, and that makes me so happy. I'm really excited for BELOVED now, and absolutely ready for Friday's story. If each book is getting better than the last, I can't wait to fall in love all over again!

 ~*~

C O V E R   D E S I G N:

Welllllllll Saturday wouldn't really wear a pretty dress. It wouldn't be at all practical for all she goes through in a day! So it doesn't quite make SENSE. It does, however, match ENCHANTED. There's also a surprise in the curling design around the title (that breathes fire) that's story-related. Love that addition!

And Saturday would totally know how to rock a sword!

   ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: HERO

Author: Alethea Kontis

Release Date: Oct. 1, 2013

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Received: For Review (BEA Copy)

SUMMARY:

Rough and tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she's the only one of her sisters without any magic—until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. 

With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world. 

Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, "Did romance have to be part of the adventure?" 

As in ENCHANTED, readers will revel in the fragments of fairy tales that embellish this action-packed story of adventure and, yes, romance.

~*~
****Tour-Wide Giveaway*****

January 26 ~ February 10

There are FIVE chances to WIN!!

Winners will be drawn randomly, entries will be validated and the IP Addresses checked for shipping qualifications to award winnings in order of preference, if indicated.
See Rafflecopter entry.
Additional restrictions on Rafflecopter apply.

1 - Signed print copy of Shadowskin by Bethany Cassel plus a signed sketch of the Main Character by the author! (US Only)
2 - eCopies of both books in the Beyond series by Kristy Tate: Beyond the Fortune Teller's Tent & Beyond the Hollow! (International)
3 - eCopy of Enchanted Fairytales by Cindy C Bennett! (International)
4 - FIVE Signed paperbacks of Enchanted by Alethea Kontis plus swag! (US Only) (That's five winners. Woop!)
5 - eCopy of The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen by Andrea Cefalo! (International)


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