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Marshmallow reviews The Serpent’s Shadow (Book Three of The Kane Chronicles series) by Rick Riordan

Marshmallow has already reviewed The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire, the first two books of Rick Riordan‘s Kane Chronicles series. Today she reviews the third and last book, The Serpent’s Shadow, first published in 2012. Having read the first two books herself, Sprinkles was curious about this third one, and so she is asking questions and taking notes.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, tell us a bit about this book.

Marshmallow: Well, things end conveniently for Sadie! Though it is a bit unrealistic…

S: I’m guessing you are talking about her romantic pursuits.

M: Yes. Oh and the world does not get destroyed.

S: Well, I could guess that because the author wrote several more books after this one, and in some, the Kane siblings themselves show up.

M: Yes. And some of those stories are published along with these books. In the first book, The Red Pyramid, there was a story titled “The Son of Sobek”, which featured Carter Kane and Percy Jackson. In the second book, The Throne of Fire, there was a story titled “The Staff of Serapis”with Annabeth and Sadie. In this third book, there is a story titled “The Crown of Ptolemy” and all four of these characters work together. These three stories all apparently happen after the three books of the Kane Chronicles. So yes, there were some clues about the world not ending.

S: And I thought the stories were really neat, but the first one told me a bit more than I knew about, for example, about the kids training with Carter and Sadie, and the second one kind of gave away the resolution of Sadie’s love triangle dilemma. So maybe people should not read the stories if they do not want any spoilers.

M: You are right. The spoilers are not terribly explicit, and they just give you some hints. But they are there, and if you want no spoilers, then you should hold off on them. But maybe we should talk about the actual book itself.

S: Yes, I am quite eager to learn more about what is going to happen, but you need to promise me: no spoilers!

M: I’ll try.

Marshmallow is reading The Serpent's Shadow (Book Three of The Kane Chronicles series) by Rick Riordan. — Marshmallow is reading *The Serpent’s Shadow* (Book Three of The Kane Chronicles series) by Rick Riordan.

S: So, how would you describe the plot without giving away too much?

M: Hmm, well, the serpent in the title is Apophis, as you could imagine, the snake of Chaos, who has been trying to take over the world.

S: Okay.

M: Carter and Sadie need to find a way to stop him, and remember in the previous book, they had already woken up Ra, but he was old and more or less senile. So in this book, they have to figure out how to handle that situation, too. And the solution involves souls and magic and deep Egyptian mythology stuff like that.

S: Okay, maybe this is enough, because I can see you struggling not to give away anything.

M: Yes. I want to tell you everything and talk about them. But I know you don’t want to just yet. You just have to read the book Sprinkles.

S: Okay, I will read the book, I want to, but I am curious, did you like how Riordan tied things up in the end?

M: Yes. I think he is very good at this. I’m not a huge fan of the very last sentence but the resolution is very good.

S: And of course, there is an open door for more adventures, I am assuming?

M: Yes, some minor plots are unresolved, but the ending still feels pretty complete. And yet you want to know more about these characters and their worlds. All in all a very satisfying reading experience.

S: So let us wrap this up so I can get the book and start reading.

M: Sure.

S: So how would you rate this book then?

M: I’d rate it 100%. It is a satisfying finish to a really neat trilogy.

S: Sounds good. So what do you want to tell our readers?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies! We will be back in August!

Marshmallow rates The Serpent's Shadow (Book Three of The Kane Chronicles series) by Rick Riordan 100%. — Marshmallow rates *The Serpent’s Shadow* (Book Three of The Kane Chronicles series) by Rick Riordan 100%.

Marshmallow reviews The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

Marshmallow has already reviewed When You Reach Me (2009) and Goodbye Stranger (2015) by Rebecca Stead. Today she reviews Stead’s newest novel, published in 2020: The List of Things That Will Not Change.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family and you want to read about how different characters tackle change, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): When Bea’s parents tell her that they are getting divorced, they give her a green notebook. In it is a list of things that won’t change, even though almost everything else might:

Mom loves you more than anything, always.
Dad loves you more than anything, always.
Mom and Dad love each other but in a different way.
You will always have a home with each of us.
Your homes will never be far apart.
We are still a family but in a different way.

Her parents’ divorce is amicable; the reason for the divorce is that Bea’s father is gay.

After the divorce, Bea’s life splits in two different parts, sometimes living with her mother and sometimes with her father. Later, her father gets engaged with another man, Jesse. Bea really likes Jesse and looks forward to him becoming a part of the family. Not to mention that Jesse has a daughter Bea’s age named Sonia, and Bea has always wanted a sister.

But Bea has other issues to face. She has eczema which is annoying to her, and she goes to therapy to deal with her stress. Everything is now different, but Bea keeps herself up by talking with her friends and family, who are always there to support her. Bea and her family will struggle to reach their happy ending.

Marshmallow is reading The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead. — Marshmallow is reading *The List of Things That Will Not Change* by Rebecca Stead.

Marshmallow’s Review: I found this a touching book. Bea is very thoughtful, and this book really highlights and goes into her thoughts and feelings. It was sad to see how some of the folks in the book mistreated Bea’s father and his new partner because of their sexual orientation.

The List of Things That Will Not Change was extremely realistic and felt very down to earth when I was reading it. Every character was unique and well thought-out, and the narrative and tone of the book felt very genuine. That said, I don’t quite think the end was one hundred percent fulfilling, but it was definitely satisfactory. However, I did like how all the loose parts were tied up in the end. I also found it interesting how not everything was perfect in the end but it was realistic. (I’m not going to say much more!)

The List of Things That Will Not Change would be appropriate for all ages, presuming that the person would understand the plot, which I felt was easy enough to understand, though it had some extra nuances for an older reader who would see all the threads from beginning to end.

Bea’s relationship with Sonia might remind some readers of a book I reviewed a while ago: To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer. There are indeed some similarities but also a lot of differences. Bea’s health issues reminded me a bit of Guts by Raina Telgemeier, another book I reviewed for the blog. And compared with the other books I have read of Rebecca Stead, the tone and voice of this book was very similar. The setting and tone were more reminiscent of When You Reach Me, but the realism was quite like that of Goodbye Stranger. But The List of Things That Will Not Change has definitely a unique and original story, and I really enjoyed reading it; I think most bunnies would, too.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead 95%. — Marshmallow rates *The List of Things That Will Not Change* by Rebecca Stead 95%.

Marshmallow reviews Glass Slippers by Leah Cypess

Almost exactly a year ago, Marshmallow reviewed Thornwood by Leah Cypess, a neat retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty, which started the author’s Sisters Ever After series. Today she reviews the second book in this series, Glass Slippers, which adds some interesting twists to the well-known Cinderella story.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about sisters, magic, and mystery, or if you enjoy retellings of fairy tales, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Tirza is the youngest stepsister of Queen Ella or Cinderella. After Ella became the queen, she banished her two older and wicked stepsisters to a different country but kept Tirza with her because Tirza was only five when Cinderella went to the famous ball.

Queen Ella is always very kind to Tirza, though it seems very artificial. Nobody else in the castle even tries to act kind; they all mistrust her and are cruel to her. Tirza is used to all this, but then she makes a bad mistake. One day, she finds the famous glass slippers out in Queen Ella’s room, and tries them on. Of course she puts them back where she found them, but this doesn’t matter because the slippers disappear and Tirza becomes the only suspect. Naturally nobody believes her when she says that she didn’t do it. Queen Ella nonetheless tries to continue to be nice to her.

Eventually the evidence against her becomes overwhelming and Tirza has to leave the kingdom. She decides to join her older sisters and plan a way to defeat and overthrow Cinderella. But the truth is much more complicated than it seems. Tirza must find out who is really evil: Cinderella or her real sisters or maybe someone else? Along the way, she must also come face to face with the fact that magic is not as nice as she had believed it to be.

Marshmallow is reading Glass Slippers by Leah Cypess. — Marshmallow is reading *Glass Slippers* by Leah Cypess.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that Glass Slippers is a very interesting book. Readers of this blog know that I love retellings of fairy tales. But the plot here was so unpredictable! I had no idea that things were going to be so different from the original fairytale. It was also strange to see the fairies and the famous glass slippers of the original story become scarier and actually sort of bad as things evolved. I can’t say more than that because I don’t want to give away too much, but quite a few surprises are on the way for those bunnies who end up reading this book.

I also found it interesting that the characters were all realistic. In fairy tales some people are purely good and you know from the start. And others are really bad and you know from the beginning, too. In Glass Slippers, you don’t know who is good and who is evil until the end. Even so, the ending was quite different than I had expected.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Glass Slippers by Leah Cypess 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Glass Slippers* by Leah Cypess 95%.

Marshmallow reviews Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Last week Marshmallow reviewed Smile by Raina Telgemeier. This week she continues her Telgemeier streak with the next graphic novel by this prolific author: Sisters (2014). Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow you have been reading graphic novels by Raina Telgemeier for a while now. And finally you got to Sisters.

Marshmallow: Yes.

S: The cover says this book accompanies Smile. I seem to remember that you wrote that that book was quite self-contained. How is this related to it?

M: They are related by the fact that both are about the same characters. The main character is the author herself, once again. But the main story line of this book is different. And it is a different time in her life. Instead of the school year, this is about summer time, about a summer when the author and her family took a road trip from California to Colorado to visit relatives.

S: I see. What is the main challenge this time?

M: The author and her sister are arguing too much. They are not in good terms. And there is a snake in their truck. And there are some problems between their parents.

S: I see. Seeing how the title mentions the sisters, I am assuming the book is mainly focusing on them getting their relationship in order?

M: Yes mostly.

S: So did you enjoy reading this book?

M: Yes. I always like Telgemeier’s drawings. She has a unique style. The faces of the characters are always very expressive. I like the color palate too. There is someone else who adds the coloring I think, Braden Lamb. I think the color choices add to the specific moods in each panel.

Marshmallow is reading Sisters by Raina Telgemeier. — Marshmallow is reading *Sisters* by Raina Telgemeier.

S: Did you find this book helped you think about your relationship with Caramel a bit?

M: No, not really. Caramel is my brother, and we don’t fight that much.

S: Really? So these two sisters fight more than you two? Hmm, that is some serious discord in the family then. Okay, so what else do you want to tell our readers about this book?

M: If you do have a sibling, this book might be helpful to you to think about your relationship with them, and see if you can be a better sibling yourself. So actually, maybe the book did make me think a bit about Caramel and me. I am thinking of how I can be a better big sister to him.

S: That is nice Marshmallow. I think you are a good big sister. And Caramel is a good little brother. So is the author the older sister or the younger?

M: She is the older one, like me.

S: I see.

M: But she is not totally like me. She is detached from her family at the beginning of the road trip. But through the book she starts feeling closer to them.

S: That is nice.

M: Yeah, I thought the book was pretty good. One thing I was not too keen on was that one of the story threads, the one about the parents and their problems, was not completely resolved. I wanted some more closure.

S: Well, you said this is a book about the author’s own life. Sometimes in real life, we don’t get closure, especially on big issues.

M: Yeah, I guess I wanted that part to be more like a book than real life.

S: I can see that. So the book was at times too much like real life! Anyways, it seems like this was all around a very good book. How would you rate it Marshmallow?

M: I’d rate it 95%.

S: Cool. And what do you want to tell our readers as we wrap up this review?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing book reviews from the book bunnies!

Marshmallow rates Sisters by Raina Telgemeier 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Sisters* by Raina Telgemeier 95%.