Review: DRIVE by Stephanie Fournet
I have loved everything I’ve read from Stephanie Fournet, and DRIVE did not disa[...]
Please help me welcome Josephine Angelini, author of Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)! She’s stopping by today with a guest post as part of her Dreamless Blog Tour hosted by Mundie Moms! Follow the tour for a chance to win a Kindle (see details below)! Also, mark your calendars because tomorrow, WEDNESDAY 5/30, Harper Teen is hosting a LIVE chat with Josie on Facebook at 9 PM EDT!
As the only Scion that can enter Hades at will, Helen descends to the Underworld in search of a way to overcome the Furies and end the cycle of revenge that has cursed the Scions. But she’s running out of time. Each descent weakens her both in mind and spirit. A mysterious stranger might be her only salvation, but the price may be her love for Lucas Delos.
As an unforgettable love triangle emerges, Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding. The eagerly awaited sequel to the internationally bestselling Starcrossed, Dreamless delivers with a huge emotional impact that will leave readers satisfied—and longing for more.(Goodreads)
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Writing Mythology vs. Fairytale
by Josephine Angelini
I love a good fairy tale. And a good myth. They have a lot in common, but there are several things that distinguish one from the other.
First off, fairy tales are creepier—especially the older ones. They all start with some tender young thing wandering into the woods, and end with children eating houses and then getting eaten themselves, or grandma getting eaten, or someone getting baked in a pie by a giant or some such gory mess. Myths are just as gory, but they aren’t creepy. They usually start with sex and end with someone either getting cursed, turned into a monster, or killing a monster. On the whole, myths are more about lust, monsters, and quests, and they are handled by professionals—adult demigods who know how to cope with hydras and Cyclopes’—not lost children or pretty girls with dwarf fetishes.
Another difference that I see between myth and fairy tales is that fairy tales are big on drawing a line between good and bad, while a lot of the heroes in Greek myth are not the pure-as-driven-snow kind that we’re used to from reading so many comics. Greek heroes are much more, well, human than our modern day Supermen. They do stupid stuff. They do terrible stuff. They somehow manage to do a few good things along way. That’s why I like them. Greek heroes, and Greek gods for that matter, are not good because they are powerful. Rather, they are powerful, and every now and again they surprise us and do something good.
Not so in fairy tales. There’s a good guy, a bad guy, a kid with a basket—and everyone knows where each character stands on the issues of house eating and cannibalism. There is a moral clarity to fairy tales that is very appealing. In general, the wicked witch did it and Prince Charming will find a way to get the Princess out of the tower. Most importantly, when the story ends there is a promise that all the characters will live happily ever after.
This point leads me to the final difference between myth and fairy tale. The Greeks didn’t hold with the idea that people could be happy forever. Happiness isn’t even mentioned. Most of the characters in Greek myth do a bunch of stuff with their lives and then die one day; as if the Greeks believed that even the life of a hero or a demigod was a series of unfortunate events that usually ended either messily or with a whimper.
It kind of makes you want to read more fairy tales.
Dreamless Playlist | Read the first 104 pages
Follow the Dreamless Tour on Twitter: #DreamlessDays & @JosieAngelini
Buy the first book Starcrossed!
At participating ebook store links, you can purchase Starcrossed for $0.99, for a limited time!
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Photo credit: Theo and Juliet
Author Bio (from Goodreads): Josephine Angelini is a Massachusetts native and the youngest of eight siblings. A real-live farmer’s daughter, Josie graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in theater, with a focus on the classics. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
Author Links: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Josephine is hosting a blog tour giveaway (US only)! The giveaway will end at the end of the tour. She’s giving away a Kindle with either the Starcrossed or Dreamless skin on it. To enter, you must comment on each blog tour post (only once) as well as follow Josie on twitter. For details about the giveaway visit Josie’s blog!
May:
22nd- Hypable, review
23rd- Super Natural Snark, character interview
24th- Mundie Moms, excerpt
25th- Books with Bite, review
26th- Girls in the Stacks, author interview
27th- Book Nerd (Jean), guest post
28th- Good Choice Reading, excerpt
29th- A Book & A Latte, guest post
30th- Reading Lark, interview
31st- Reading Teen, review
June:
1st- YA Bibliophile, excerpt
2nd- The Story Siren, author interview,
3rd- Once Upon A Twilight, review
4th- YA Book Nerd, guest post
5th- Bookaclious Pam, review
Many thanks to Josie for stopping by today to discuss mythology vs. fairy tales! Friends, don’t forget to join the LIVE chat with Josie on Facebook tomorrow, WEDNESDAY 5/30 at 9:00 PM EDT!
Twitter: deadtossedwaves
says:
I love the history of the original fairy tales and mythologies. They’re really a lot darker than most of us realize. I never even thought about the fact that Greek mythology is not happily ever after. It’s an interesting thought.
Awesome! I’ve been itching for this book since forever. Glad you liked it.
~Shane
new follower
Love this post! Dreamless was amazing! I managed to convince my local bookstore to sell it to me early and read it in one day! Josephine Angelini wrote an amazing book!
Twitter: fakesteph
says:
I love this guest post topic! Also, I love the author photo! Theo and Juliet do amazing work and I was glad to see it credited. I’m always curious about who shot an authors headshot.
fakesteph recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday
never really thought about fairy tales and myths like that, very interesting. was able to get the book Saturday and couldn’t put it down! soo amazing! 🙂
Oh I loved this post! Reminded me why I like Myths more than fairy tales.
Reading Dreamless now and I can hardly put it down.
Rina Lee recently posted..three sisters book reviews: Book Review: Particle Horizon by Selso Xisto
Good comparison!
SHauna recently posted..Graceling by Kristi Cashore Review
I’ve always preferred myths to fairy tales because they don’t sugarcoat everything. And it’s funny to see that the original source of the fairy tales is actually very, very dark…
Twitter: yaparanormal
says:
Loved this post! It was nice to see something a little different that also helps us get to know this amazing Author! Thanks for the Post!
Thanks to Josie for explaining the differences between myths and fairy tales!
Very nice post and list of differences.
Twitter: bookwitchjen
says:
Good comparison. Fairy Tales can be really dark, if you ever read Russian ones. Wow…ya those can be bad. Myths though usually have Gods messing with humans and pushing their limits.
Jen recently posted..Waiting on Wednesday
Love this post! Thank you so much for being on the tour Jen.
I love Josephine Angelini, and her writing…and really loved Starcrossed…so it comes as no surprise to me that she completely killed this guest topic. I will never look at fairy tales again, without thinking of them as insane fetishes involving children…bwahahaha…oh man, she is AWESOME! 🙂
Name: Hira Hasnain
Email: Enamoredsoul(at)gmail(dot)com
Hira Hasnain (Enamored Soul) recently posted..~Sweet Memorial Day – May 28th, 2012~
I am currently reading Starcrossed and I am really loving it so I am really excited to read dreamless
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I loved the guest post with Josephine! (: It was interesting to read about the differences, which she has a really good point over the differences xD
Great comparison! I have already enjoyed reading Greek mythology more than fairy tales!
Oh my gosh, I think I might bookmark this post xD
I read Starcrossed recently and loved it! Now I can’t wait to read Dreamless! I’m sorry Lucas is leaving the picture for a while, but I’m excited to meet Orion.
I adore Josie, she is such a nerd.
Definitely agree with you– Fairy Tales are much more creepier! But that’s what I really love about them in the end. And of course, Greek Myths RULE. Great guest post, and can’t wait to get my hands on Dreamless!
Rabiah recently posted..Books to Pine For (7)
I definitely have to add this to my tbr list and I found a new author to follow. Yay!
Mindy Wall (@dreamer2229) recently posted..Giveaway and Book review of Servant of the Goddess
[…] tours: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar Tour, where I give my thoughts on a teaser quote; and the Dreamless Tour in which the author, Josephine Angelini discusses mythology vs. fairy tales! Each tour […]
She’s such a go writer! Love the essay! :))
Thank you all for being a part of the blog tour!! <3