And that is what I got.

​  The first sentence is generally where many of the authors captivate their readers into the unique world in which they are about to present and share.  Ben not only did that, but he decided to add more emotion and heart into this single sentence.  When I read this sentence, I looked up to Charisma and said, "What even is this sentence?? I am so moved?".  I was incredibly surprised because my heart began to pound with such anticipation and yearning for the next few sentence and I've never felt this before.  But he didn't stop.  He kept going, slowly adding more and more feeling to each word he chose with care. 
  
  At the beginning of the story, we have officially met two characters: Prince Hadrian and his mother.

  Oh. My. Goodness. Who. Are. These. People. Who. Have. Stolen. My. Heart.

  I was impressed with the way he delicately wrote about Prince Hadrian's mother.  She sounded graceful as the season Spring, she was portrayed as a delicate woman, and yet, her actions showed that she was fierce and strong.  I have read plenty of stories where this type of woman existed but they always fell into two categories: they either became way too delicate or way too OP.  There just wasn't a good balance of the two.

  Yet here I am, applauding Ben, as he was able to make her perfect.  She was able to stay in the middle of being a delicately strong warrior whose attitude was brave, though soft.
 
  Prince Hadrian was also brilliant.  We begin to know him about being interested in his mother's beauty, how her voice sounds like bells, and how she lights the world with her aura.  He wants to be with her all the time and the time that he sends with her, he cherishes every. single. moment. The story was in his perspective and I felt as though I could easily relate to all that he's gone through.

  In terms of description of the world, there wasn't much.  But his word choice was so powerful that it made up for it.  He used such descriptively beautiful words that not only was I able to picture the castle and the rooms within, but I was able to have room to create my own version of what everything looked like.  I always appreciate that type of freedom when reading.

  The plot definitely had the intentions of setting up for the first book, which was nice, but what was better was the fact that we got the prequel in the eyes of the other main character.  I was happily surprised.

  The secondary characters, especially the good friend to Prince Hadrian, were full of life and each of them had such important parts to play in the story.

  But, as with all books, there was one part of this book that I didn't like.  This was the scene where Prince Hadrian was met with his father.  From the way he narrated the story too when he actually spoke to his father (and it's only his father that he speaks this way, no one else), it was a drastic change.  When narrating and talking to his good friend, he sounds like a gentleman that carried pride and honor. Now, when he speaks with his father, he seems almost childish.  Of course, there are parts of the conversation where he resumes his 'gentlemen narrative voice', but that was close to the end of the conversation.  It was just a bit disappointing.

  Now, with all of that being said, my overall rating for this book would be a 4 ½ out of 5.

of books), and when I found out I started cheering (for like 15 seconds because I started reading immediately).  The book has a few pictures, it has a really nice 'Contents' page and the book has five parts.  The story itself, in my opinion, was kind of slow at the beginning.  It was just the main character explaining what happened to him and his group that he was with.  Then the story begins to pick up pace at the third chapter (which is the beginning of part 2).  This is where we meet more of the main characters and this is where the story begins to see some originality and uniqueness.  The MC becomes more developed and he becomes torn between to families: the one in America and the one he left behind in Japan.
  I don't believe there was any cursing and there was no inappropriate scenes.  All in all I give this book a four and half stars.

  J.K. Rowling is the star of surprises and hidden secrets!  The reason?  Do you remember in Harry Potter the Goblet of Fire, when Hogwarts wasn't the only wizarding school?  Well, apparently, there are actually eleven (can you believe that many!) wizarding schools.  I'll list them for you:

• Mahoutokoro - You guessed it: JAPAN!
• Uagadou - Africa!!!
  
• Durmstrang Institute - Probably somewhere in Europe; uknown whereabouts
  
• Ilvermorny - COMING SOON (is this the American wizarding school?  Hmm...?)
• Beauxbatons Academy of Magic - Somewhere in Pyrenees
  
• Castelobruxo - Brazilian school that takes students from all over South America

  Currently, there are seven wizarding schools that are known, but eleven of them exist.  Where could the others be???

  Alrighty!  That's pretty much all the Harry Potter news I have for today (well, other than that the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie is going to be put into three movies, but other than that.....)!  Tell, what did you find the most interesting or exciting?  Tell us in the comments!

only uses a sword once in the whole book!  (That's because she changed her weapon to something else, but I'm not going to say what.)

Anyways, when I read the beginning, I was so confused.  I was wondering how it all tied into the Cinderella story and why they were all going through that type of servitude.  It all unfolds slowly, but it all makes sense at the end.  I loved what they did with all the characters.

This book was separated into 3 parts.  The first part was when Pin was in servitude.  The second part is where the Cinderella story actually starts.  The third part is where they all are trying to escape from Story (< - - That reference only makes sense if you read the book).

The story itself was beautiful and timeless.  The concept and idea was something I would have never thought to put together.  I was completely dumb struck at the way it was executed and the beauty of the writing.

To me, all the characters were developed quite beautifully.  My favorite character was Shoe.  Hands down, no question.  Shoe was so perfect and wonderful and amazing and stubborn, but he was doing everything he did with the right intentions.  That's just some of the things of what I like about him.

I give this story 5 stars!

Have you read Ash and Bramble?  If so, did you like it?  If not, would you read it?  Tell me in the comments!

Charisma

So you all might not know, but I can't for the life of me read or watch embarrassing moments.  They really just won't work.  This book, however, has none of those unbearable moments!  It was great!

Anyway, this book sparked my interest when I was going through the library the day before (yeah, I think so) we went on Thanksgiving vacation.  I saw the cover and loved, so I picked it up and went on my way.  I was not expecting all the things in side of this book.

The characters were wonderfully developed.  All the characters captured you from the very beginning when they're introduced in the story.  My favorite characters were Lucy (obviously) and Walter (who you will all meet later in the book).

The writing was superb.  This book was set in the Victorian-era, so the language is everything that it would be back then.  Because of this, some parts of the language isn't the greatest.  It's not that horrible, but just telling you all.  If you're sensitive to some types of speech, then you might not want to read this book.  The iffy language disappears after the 1st chapter and after that it is spread across the book, only popping up once or twice in that one chapter, then 5 (maybe even 6) chapters later, there is another character saying that stuff.

The story was quite vivid and captured you when the first sentence is read.  The characters, mystery and magic help move the story along.  The ending is so wonderfully satisfying that you could just end there, but not every answer was answered in this book.

I loved reading the book.  It's absolutely wonderful!  I'm so glad this book is a trilogy and that all the books have been published.  My rating is 5 stars!

Have you read the Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons?  If so, did you like it?  If not, would you read it?  Tell me in the comments!

Charisma

Also, Alexa from Verbosity did a review on this book.  Here's the link:

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - Verbosity Book Review

I completely agree with her for the Writing Style and Dialogue for this book.  It was absolutely amazing!

Have you read Seraphina?  What were some things that you like about if you did?  If you haven't read Seraphina, are you looking forward to reading it?  Tell us in the comments!

Charisma