Book Review: Because You Love To Hate Me edited by Ameriie
I have been wanting to read this book for months since I heard it was coming out. When it finally did, I didn't have any money. I was eventually able to buy it when it went on sale as an e-book, because it was a contender for the 2017 Goodreads Choice awards. I finally got around to reading it. Here are my thoughts.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:
Leave it to the heroes to save the world--villains just want to rule the world.
In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains' points of view.
These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like "Medusa," Sherlock Holmes, and "Jack and the Beanstalk" provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains' acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage--and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!
Featuring writing from . . .
Authors: Renée Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola Yoon
BookTubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zoë Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).
MY FAVORITE STORIES:
Shirley and Jim by Susan Dennard is about a modern day Sherlock (Shirley) and Moriarty (Jim). Jim is the new boy at school, and discovers Shirley's secret corner of the library where she plays chess. After that day, they play chess every day. They get to know each other, and tell each other about themselves. One day they kiss. The next day Jim is gone. The day after that, Shirley's best friend's life is ruined by Jim's actions. Shirley had unknowingly given him information to dig up dirt on her best friend's mom, who is a senator. Turns out she was corrupt...
The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer is a retelling of The Little Mermaid/Ursula. It is Ursula the Sea Witch's origin story. Turns out it is pretty similar to Ariel's story. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Ursula Nerit starts out as a love struck teenage mermaid. She tries to create a potion to have her love, the prince, fall in love with her by she is caught. By the prince. (Can someone say awkward?) She swims to the surface and beaches herself, intending to die, but a man named Samuel finds her. They start talking, and then start meeting up regularly. One day Sam tells her "I must go away. I will return on the next full moon. I have to find a way for us to be together. This is also what you want, yes? Will you be here when I return?" Nerit says yes, then goes home. She decided to create another potion, but this time to turn her human. The side effects are feeling like there are knives in her feet and they must marry. If the human chooses to marry someone else, then the former mermaid will turn back to their merform the sunset of the vows. When she meets up with Samuel again, freshly human, he is aghast. He had sold her out to hunters and traders, and now it was for nothing. She was devastated. So she waited. Days turned into weeks that turned into years. But she was always keeping tabs on him. One day she finds out he is getting married! So she plans her revenge. On the eve of his wedding, she killd the bride and groom in their beds. She starts to turn back into merform. But not the correct one. Now she is an Ugly Sea Witch. He ex love now turned king says she is not welcome back in that form, so she fles to her old cave home on the outskirts of the kingdom. Waiting.
Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon is the retelling of the Greek myth Medusa. (NOTE: THIS IS A TRIGGER WARNING. THERE IS MENTION OF RAPE.)
It starts with a girl, Mei, getting her portrait painted for the emperor to chose from. If hers is chosen out of all of the other girls who have submitted theirs to be considered, she will become empress. One day while Mei is waiting for news, a man appears out of thin air and starts flirting with her. She is shocked that a random stranger would approach a young maiden like that. A few weeks later it happens again, but this time while she is in bed. She feels repulsed this time, because he tried to sleep with her and used his powers to hold her down so she cannot fight back. The next day she is announced future empress. On the journey to the palace, he appears again. She tells him no, and he tells her that he is the sea god Poseidon and she has no choice, he takes what he wants. When he is done and gone, and Mei is laying there, the Maiden goddess appears and curses her for laying with a god when she is already betrothed. (aka victim blames her for getting raped by the sea god.) She cursed Mei to grow ugly and venomous so that she may not be with anyone ever again. Mei runs away and sits there fighting warriors who have come to kill her for centuries. One day, the right hero who is god-blessed comes to fight her. He wins.
Death Knell by V.E.Schwab is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone Greek myth. Death wakes up in a well in the hillside one morning. He walks through the town and tries to guess who is going to perish today. He walks through the town center, the church and more. Finally he finds Grace. She bargains for one more day. He complies. They go to the hills, they go the the beach, they go to the festival of Beltane where they dance and she kisses his cheek. They gaze at the stars. When he tells her that her time is up, she requests just one more thing. She would wish to visit the well, to go to the bottom and say goodbye to her mother. She requests that he show her how. He relents, and jumps in. She runs the opposite way, but is struck down. The next morning she wakes up and is Death. She walks through town wondering who will perish that day.
You, You, It's All About You by Adam Silvera about a teenage girl who is also a crime lord. She is unstoppable, uncatchable. She essentially sells a mind controlling drug. She kills about 5 people in the beginning of the story, then goes home to her beau, Karl. She must be blindfolded while he takes her home though, because is she was caught and mind controlled into giving up the location of the drugs, she wouldn't be able to. She talks with Karl for awhile, then goes and grabs one more drug. She puts it on her tongue and kisses him. He wakes up. You learn that she kidnapped him, and mind controlled him into loving her. She lets him know that no one is coming to rescue him. She is all he has. she knocks him out, and gives him more to reverse the effects. When he wakes up he will love her.
Sera by Nicola Yoon is about a gender-bent God of War story. I think my favorite part of the story is the way it's told. It it's told in mini chapters, with each title the age of the antagonist. (E.X. 4 years and 2 months. 5 years and 6 months. etc.) Nicola Yoon goes into detail about all of the effects of her war power, leading up to Sera killing her sister and wrecking havoc on an LA Highway. It was pretty captivating.
MY OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5 STARS
Goodreads link
Links to buy BYLTHM: Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Depository - Audible
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:
Leave it to the heroes to save the world--villains just want to rule the world.
In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains' points of view.
These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like "Medusa," Sherlock Holmes, and "Jack and the Beanstalk" provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains' acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage--and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!
Featuring writing from . . .
Authors: Renée Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola Yoon
BookTubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zoë Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).
MY FAVORITE STORIES:
Shirley and Jim by Susan Dennard is about a modern day Sherlock (Shirley) and Moriarty (Jim). Jim is the new boy at school, and discovers Shirley's secret corner of the library where she plays chess. After that day, they play chess every day. They get to know each other, and tell each other about themselves. One day they kiss. The next day Jim is gone. The day after that, Shirley's best friend's life is ruined by Jim's actions. Shirley had unknowingly given him information to dig up dirt on her best friend's mom, who is a senator. Turns out she was corrupt...
The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer is a retelling of The Little Mermaid/Ursula. It is Ursula the Sea Witch's origin story. Turns out it is pretty similar to Ariel's story. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon is the retelling of the Greek myth Medusa. (NOTE: THIS IS A TRIGGER WARNING. THERE IS MENTION OF RAPE.)
It starts with a girl, Mei, getting her portrait painted for the emperor to chose from. If hers is chosen out of all of the other girls who have submitted theirs to be considered, she will become empress. One day while Mei is waiting for news, a man appears out of thin air and starts flirting with her. She is shocked that a random stranger would approach a young maiden like that. A few weeks later it happens again, but this time while she is in bed. She feels repulsed this time, because he tried to sleep with her and used his powers to hold her down so she cannot fight back. The next day she is announced future empress. On the journey to the palace, he appears again. She tells him no, and he tells her that he is the sea god Poseidon and she has no choice, he takes what he wants. When he is done and gone, and Mei is laying there, the Maiden goddess appears and curses her for laying with a god when she is already betrothed. (aka victim blames her for getting raped by the sea god.) She cursed Mei to grow ugly and venomous so that she may not be with anyone ever again. Mei runs away and sits there fighting warriors who have come to kill her for centuries. One day, the right hero who is god-blessed comes to fight her. He wins.
Death Knell by V.E.Schwab is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone Greek myth. Death wakes up in a well in the hillside one morning. He walks through the town and tries to guess who is going to perish today. He walks through the town center, the church and more. Finally he finds Grace. She bargains for one more day. He complies. They go to the hills, they go the the beach, they go to the festival of Beltane where they dance and she kisses his cheek. They gaze at the stars. When he tells her that her time is up, she requests just one more thing. She would wish to visit the well, to go to the bottom and say goodbye to her mother. She requests that he show her how. He relents, and jumps in. She runs the opposite way, but is struck down. The next morning she wakes up and is Death. She walks through town wondering who will perish that day.
You, You, It's All About You by Adam Silvera about a teenage girl who is also a crime lord. She is unstoppable, uncatchable. She essentially sells a mind controlling drug. She kills about 5 people in the beginning of the story, then goes home to her beau, Karl. She must be blindfolded while he takes her home though, because is she was caught and mind controlled into giving up the location of the drugs, she wouldn't be able to. She talks with Karl for awhile, then goes and grabs one more drug. She puts it on her tongue and kisses him. He wakes up. You learn that she kidnapped him, and mind controlled him into loving her. She lets him know that no one is coming to rescue him. She is all he has. she knocks him out, and gives him more to reverse the effects. When he wakes up he will love her.
Sera by Nicola Yoon is about a gender-bent God of War story. I think my favorite part of the story is the way it's told. It it's told in mini chapters, with each title the age of the antagonist. (E.X. 4 years and 2 months. 5 years and 6 months. etc.) Nicola Yoon goes into detail about all of the effects of her war power, leading up to Sera killing her sister and wrecking havoc on an LA Highway. It was pretty captivating.
MY OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5 STARS
Goodreads link
Links to buy BYLTHM: Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Depository - Audible
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