Friday in Review: Stain by A.G. Howard

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've had as great a week as me! I did Katie Phillips Author Brand Challenge this week and am loving it and feel so much more centered in who I am as an author and what kind of readers I want to reach and speak to. Like I was telling a friend on the phone today, I could go on and on about all the breakthroughs I've had through her challenge haha Buuut that is a post for another day! Today is all about the dark and gorgeous book Stain by A.G. Howard.

This one took me a while to read... I guess I was just so busy (mostly mentally busy) during March that I kind of let my reading slide. However, I did like it enough to buy it which is saying something. I don't like spending money on books unless I absolutely know I will like (more accurately love) them. There are very few authors I follow that I will go out and buy their book the day it releases. Anyways, I read her first retelling the Splintered series years ago and it is to this day still one of my favorite series I've ever read. Splintered was what made me read or buy every other book she's written.

When Stain came out I knew I had to read it. First of all, the cover is beautiful! I mean just look at it!! And its purple and I love purple so that earned it tons of extra points. (I seriously love all the covers for her YA books. They're always so gorgeous)!

Second of all ummm its a princess and the pea retelling?! How many of those do you see lying around?? So even more bonus points to her for giving us such an original twist on a not so well known fairy tale.

The story itself is as beautiful as the cover. If I'm being honest it did take me a little while to really get into the story. It starts at the birth of our protagonist Lyra and the first few chapters are a lot of worldbuilding, character set ups and all that good stuff. I want to say they were info dumps but really... they weren't? A.G. Howard worked her magic and still made all the history lessons for us readers and many summary type paragraphs entertaining to read. The story was entertaining and interesting enough to keep my interest until things really started getting good. Around the middle of the book when Lyra is a teenager and then a young adult, the story really started snagging my attention and by the end I couldn't put the book down!

I'm not sure if I've ever read a book like this one before. Where it starts with the birth of the protagonist and follows her throughout her life while also weaving in several other key character's POV's (including the villain's who had a sort of Evil Stepmother/Mother Gothel from Tangled vibe). And I've never read a book where I finished and just sort of had to sit there and appreciate how complex and nuanced the plot was. Like it takes till the very end for you to see how all the little puzzle pieces, character choices and at the time insignificant moments come together to form this gothically (idk if that's a word, it is now!) whimsical tale. A.G. Howard's specialty.

That was the big take away right there. When I finished the book I just had to sit back and let myself appreciate all the complexities of the characters and the story. By the end of the story you realize how profound these characters are and how deep and meaningful their personal stories are. There's stories of consequences of your actions, of what happens to a person when they have no guilt and no shame, of not judging a book by its cover (that was a huge theme in Stain). Since there was such a wide variety and diversity of characters in the book any reader is bound to find that one character that they connect with. For me, I think it was Lyra. She is strong and curious and perseveres despite all the horrible things that's happened to her in the past. But most of all, she doesn't let the ugliness of her world turn her into a monster. She is good and gentle and kindhearted and patient and I really love that. I love when a heroine is strong in an internal, feminine sort of way.

So, if you do get a chance to read this book when you finish it cover to cover just take a moment to appreciate the hardwork and passion and care that A.G. Howard fused into the story. She did a marvelous job and I can't wait for what she has planned next!

This was an amazing book and so worth my time and so inspiring and just... if you love retellings go find it and read it cuz you'll love it!! It's gothically whimsical (yep I am definitely going to keep using that phrase cuz it fits her style so well!) tales of woe and romance.

What do you think of retellings? Which ones are your favorite?