Weekend Recommendations #9

This is a weekly feature, where I get to go all fannish about two randomly-picked favvies (which may not actually be favorites, but got a rating of 3 or higher) that I would recommend to friends! So, here are this week's two picks:

Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: science fiction/fairytale retelling/futuristic

Part of a Series: Yes

Rating: 3 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Girls and guys alike, fourteen and up, fairytale retelling fans looking for a new and original twist on the Cinderella story, as well as science fiction fans - and cyborg fans!

Why I Like It:

When Cinder first came out, I thought it was going to be one of the weirdest - and probably the silliest - book I had read that year. I mean, Cinderella as a cyborg? Forget that - a fairytale retelling coupled with science fiction? (can you see my eyebrows raising yet?) So it took a while before I finally decided to give it a try. When I did, I was completely astounded. Quite possibly, no other Author could have gotten such a concept to work as well as it does in Cinder, but Marissa Meyer can. Thus, we Readers are presented with the most original - and exciting - Cinderella retelling ever. Cinder is an awesome protagonist, the world is intriguing, the classic Cinderella elements are cleverly blended in, and we are given not only a classic commoner-falls-in-love-with-prince story, but also a plot steeped in politics, mystery, invading armies, and even humor. Never has a book surprised me as much as this one did. (It's sequel is even better!)

Title: Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Genre: historical fiction

Part of a Series: No

Rating: 4 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Girls and guys alike, sixteen and up, great for fans of WWII fiction, and very strong female protagonists without The Attitude.

Why I Like It:

I love WWII novels, especially ones about the S. O. E. - British spies. I'm also a big fan of strong female protagonists who don't have The Attitude. The girls of this novel have spunk and sarcasm, but they don't have an Attitude, and they are very classic WWII-era British girls. While some of the circumstances are not entirely believable (like the rather lenient Gestapo agent), and I wasn't a big fan of narration style (I did get used to it, though), the story itself is a great one, with lots of historical detail, great characters, and a bittersweet ending that left me both pleased and crying my eyes out. You can't write about the S. O. E. without something tragic happening to someone.