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The Artisans Julie Reece Books

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The Artisans Julie Reece Books

A contemporary Beauty and the Beast retelling is always welcome, and I really enjoyed this book! It's light on the retelling aspect, although there are the important elements from the fairy tale - the confinement, the beastly hero, the connection between the couple, and the power of love to redeem. The story weaves in a great backstory for the heroine - Raven or Rae, who has a talent for designing clothes, but who has a very tough home life. Raven was so much fun to read about because of her wryly sarcastic voice. I found her hilarious!

The romance in this story is very sweet -it's sweeps you up if you don't pay too much attention to why they fall in love. Although for me, I felt it was hard to understand why Gideon fell in love with Raven so quickly when she was always so antagonistic to him initially. But I didn't mind too much since I really loved the characters, and it was great to read about their growing interest in each other. And I thought it was wonderful that Gideon can help Raven just as much as she can help him. And Gideon does help Raven realize her potential. Raven has two best friends who come to visit sometimes, and I loved that there is a little romantic b-plot going with those friends - this was an all around wonderful read for the romance aspect. (And YAY no love triangle!)

The story includes an interesting spin on the magic - there is a curse of sorts and a dark, forbidding house which made the story very mysterious and creepy at times. There were some particularly nerve-wracking scenes! Both the romance and the mystery of what secrets Gideon was hiding made this book so readable - a fantastic page-turner with engaging characters, swoony romance, and eerie mystery!


Tags : Amazon.com: The Artisans (9780692337325): Julie Reece: Books,Julie Reece,The Artisans,Month9Books, LLC,0692337326,Clothing trade;Fiction.,Dysfunctional families,Family life;Fiction.,Family problems,Fashion designers,High school seniors,Man-woman relationships;Fiction.,South Carolina,Stepfathers,Women tailors,Children: Grades 4-6,Fairy Tales & Folklore - Adaptations,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Fairy Tales & Folklore Adaptations,Juvenile Fiction Love & Romance,Juvenile Fiction Paranormal,Juvenile Fiction Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural,Love & Romance,Paranormal,Romance & relationships stories (Children's Teenage),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance Paranormal,Young Adult Fiction,Young Adult FictionFairy Tales & Folklore - Adaptations,Young Adult FictionParanormal, Occult & Supernatural,JUV012040

The Artisans Julie Reece Books Reviews

I didn't know what to expect reading this book.
The summary intrigued me from the beginning because I love my YA heroines to be artistic/creative. But then the reviews... some raved about how amazing this book was. While a few weren't impressed, couldn't relate to the characters, found the romance unrealistic&c.
But I truly enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it enough to make it my second review. And this is the latest (it's about 430 right now)I've stayed up reading in a long time.
There was nothing that annoyed me enough to right down or to cause me to put the book down.
I just always feel this bit of disbelief at someone my own age doing so much (a 19 year old having so much power, not the 17 year old with the alcoholic faather). That might say something about me though...
Read this book. Even if you don't like the plot or something, you will come away having liked at least one thing if not the main character, then her best friends. If the not the plot then the writing and metaphors.
There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed (hence the four stars), and parts I hated (why there's not 5 stars). One thing that stuck in my craw early on was the access that the protagonist had to everything that she needed to make fabulous clothes, despite the fact that she was so poor that she was living in her stepfathers shop, on the verge of eviction for non-payment. My mother is a seamstress. I know what it takes to be one. Fabric costs money, lots of money for nicer clothing. Vintage fabric is even more costly. Vintage stores sell their stuff for a bundle. Yet, Raven miraculously has access to fabric (both modern and vintage), thread, findings and everything else a person who dreams of being a clothing designer might ever desire, even though, you know, they don't have money for food or anything. Also, she manages to make wearable shoes in a couple of hours... hmmm.

I know, that sound really negative, and it is. But, that's really all I hated about the book (well, expect for the silly book names, I'm not a fan, but that's just personal taste, and I've seen much worse).

I thought that the premise behind the book was quite interesting. You do have to suspend belief to enter a world where someone can essentially kidnap someone else and everyone stays so positive about it. The synopsis isn't quite right, there was no threat of jail, for example, instead, Raven takes her dad's place in order to prevent his death - something to me that's a bit more motivating. After all, in jail he would have no choice but to get clean.

The protagonist is quite likeable in my opinion. She's afraid but she still does what needs doing to protect the people (and things) that she loves. Although I could have done without the love story, it is believable, taking a good amount of time for a relationship to develop. The story flows easily and I didn't have to reread anything to follow it, which is especially nice for self-published.

I don't want to go into too much detail because I don't want to spoil the story for anyone. All I can say is that it was an easy read. A couple of things, such as her sewing ability and things about her dad, could have been fleshed out a bit more (or not mentioned at all), but didn't detract from the story. It had a satisfying ending, but there are some unanswered questions that could maybe lead to a sequel, but no so much that if there isn't one, you won't be disappointed.
Julie Reece has crafted a hauntingly beautiful tale and I’m so excited to have found this author. This book was funny, edgy, downright creep-me-out scary at moments and I loved every minute of it. The protagonist is fresh and compelling, the dialogue sharp and witty, and the storyline thoughtful. I love YA books that don’t pretend real life doesn’t exist for teens. Reece has included an alcoholic, gambling character that was written to perfection and the ways in which the protagonist, Raven, manage this relationship is both heart-wrenching and all too true to life. Between her thoughtful handling of reality, her blurring of the paranormal with the possibility of hallucination, and the descriptive, scary scenes, I can’t decide what I like best about this book. What I can say is I finished this in two nights and bought the sequel, The Paladins, immediately. I recommend you do the same.

Fans of Libba Bray, Melissa Marr, or Becca Fitzpatrick will love The Artisans.
A contemporary Beauty and the Beast retelling is always welcome, and I really enjoyed this book! It's light on the retelling aspect, although there are the important elements from the fairy tale - the confinement, the beastly hero, the connection between the couple, and the power of love to redeem. The story weaves in a great backstory for the heroine - Raven or Rae, who has a talent for designing clothes, but who has a very tough home life. Raven was so much fun to read about because of her wryly sarcastic voice. I found her hilarious!

The romance in this story is very sweet -it's sweeps you up if you don't pay too much attention to why they fall in love. Although for me, I felt it was hard to understand why Gideon fell in love with Raven so quickly when she was always so antagonistic to him initially. But I didn't mind too much since I really loved the characters, and it was great to read about their growing interest in each other. And I thought it was wonderful that Gideon can help Raven just as much as she can help him. And Gideon does help Raven realize her potential. Raven has two best friends who come to visit sometimes, and I loved that there is a little romantic b-plot going with those friends - this was an all around wonderful read for the romance aspect. (And YAY no love triangle!)

The story includes an interesting spin on the magic - there is a curse of sorts and a dark, forbidding house which made the story very mysterious and creepy at times. There were some particularly nerve-wracking scenes! Both the romance and the mystery of what secrets Gideon was hiding made this book so readable - a fantastic page-turner with engaging characters, swoony romance, and eerie mystery!