Hero (Woodcutter Sisters, #2)

by Alethea Kontis

Rough-and-tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she's the only one of her sisters without any magic - until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world. Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, "Did romance have to be part of the adventure?" As in Enchanted, readers will revel in the fragments of fairy tales that embellish this action-packed story of adventure and, yes, romance.

• ISBN13: 9780544056770
• Publish Date: 1 October 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 17 May 2016
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Harcourt Children's Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter



It's been quite some time since I've read Enchanted by Alethea Kontis. I had gone into that book with some pretty high hopes and under the impression it was a fairy tale re-telling. What I got wasn't a true re-telling but rather a mash-up of quite a few fairy tales. I'm pretty sure this skewed my enjoyment of the book. I went into Hero with different expectations and I enjoyed this book more because of it.

Saturday is the personification of "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". She badly wants something, almost anything, to happen so it breaks up the monotony of her day to day life in the Woodcutter cottage. Remember that saying be careful what you wish for?

Kontis keeps the plot moving at a pretty steady clip. I was never really bored and almost always entertained. The story itself is pretty good if not familiar. Again Hero by Alethea Kontis is a mash-up of fairy tales and their characters. This book is also a sequel so there wasn't a ton of introductions of new characters or a lot of new world building.

The characters that Knotis introduces in Hero were all worth the introduction! To be honest, I laughed more than I expected to. There's just something about a prince who cross dresses to appease the witch he can't escape and the smart ass chimera he calls friend. If I'm being honest, Betwixt is probably my favorite character. His sarcastic, yet truthful, insights instantly clicked with me.

With Enchanted I was rather apathetic about continuing the series. Hero helped bring the series on track for me and I'm excited to see where Alethea Kontis takes the series next.

[ladygrey]

I am so silly in love with this book and this world and all of these characters. Saturday wasn't even my favorite sister and I really don't like cross dressing stories. But this one is whimsical and fun and not awkward at all. And Saturday, though stubborn and obtuse, is also clever and strong and becomes much more interesting as her heart lets go a little. I like how she didn't fall in love so much as surrender to it.

And Peregrine is awesome. His story is good but it really comes to life with Saturday and I enjoyed the things they shared. And Betwixt was awesome. Kontis' characters are so well developed and so much fun to read. Their witty and stubborn and bold and fearful and I really, really like spending time with them.

Perhaps most of all I love the fairy tales. They are woven into this story with such an elegant simplicity. And beyond the themes and elements of fairy tales, this is a story written with the very nature of a fairy tale. It's dark but also beautiful and light and fun but sad and hard - it's a delightful story that doesn't dull the edges of things that are difficult.

I'm so impressed with how the world opens up at the end and how we get a glimpse of the larger story that's unfolding. I'm so excited for every single sister's story and to see how they're woven together like one of Friday's patchwork skirts!