Rewritten

Gracie escaped from her villainous character's destiny in the last book, but Cassandra is still pursuing Gracie, and this time, she knows her every thought and action, as soon as Gracie even thinks of them.

The kids go into a horror story this time, but this book is still a fun and magical middle grade read. There's a scary beast, but our heroes are able to save the day before anything bad or scary happens. Some new characters are introduced, and it's interesting to see how they react to being told they're in an ongoing story.

The plot is fun and engaging. The characters are just as good and interesting as they were in the first book. I wasn't happy with the ending, but hopefully that'll be resolved in the next.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the series, and you REALLY should read the first book before reading this, otherwise you'll be pretty lost.

Once again, we follow Gracie and Walter into another story adventure. This time, it's a story that has nothing to do with them, but it's one Gracie happens upon in her efforts to try and escape Cassandra, her evil Step-Mother, from finding out where she is.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. Gracie was just a little more irritating in this installment than she was in the first one, and she had a little too much 'feeling sorry for herself' going on, but she redeemed herself in the end.

The author has clearly set this up to be a multi-book series with the way this ended, so you can definitely expect at least one more book. I would recommend this to Middle Grade readers in the 8-14 age range. It has a good message to it and has just enough adventure without being overly scary or gory (no gore, in fact, just a couple beasts).

***I received this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I received a complimentary copy of 'Rewritten' through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

My love of reading began at a very young age, and I would constantly imagine taking part of the wild adventures I would read about. Recess time would consist of me traveling to different lands and solving conflicts. So when I came across 'Rewritten' by Tara Gilboy, I was thrilled! While the circumstances of the story are slightly different (Gracie is a storybook character attempting to understand her creator's intentions), I loved that I was essentially reading about a character creating her own new adventure.

The pacing of 'Rewritten' was very good, and the story went pretty quickly. I haven't read the first part of this series (Unwritten), but Gilboy made it easy for me to follow along with Gracie's struggle to define herself on her own terms. Gracie is a character trying to rectify the mistakes of her past, and it's quite an uphill climb. I appreciated that she is shown as a person who constantly thinks of the life she once lived, while wanting to move forward from the new circumstances in her life.

'Rewritten' is a Middle Grade novel. I found it to be a pretty accurate description, as this story is perfect for children aged 10-14. It has just the right elements of conflict and horror, without it being too intense for young readers. 'Rewritten' also carries a strong message of a girl trying to make things right for herself and for those she's close with. I wish I had a story like 'Rewritten' when I was younger!

Gracie is a character that I will never forget! She wants to live her life in the present, but the story world continues to creep in. Protecting her family and friends is her utmost concern. She is a fighter and so powerful. I will definitely bring this one into my classroom library! My students will love Gracie as much as I do!

Rewritten by Tara Gilboy is the sequel to her stellar debut novel, Unwritten. In Gilboy's sophomore story, Gracie is trying to live a normal life in the real world after she successfully changed the ending of her own story. When Cassandra returns, causing chaos and destruction, Gracie must survive her wrath.

This was a wonderful addition to the world Gilboy has created. With strong writing, incredible detail, and complex characters, this made for a wonderful, entertaining read. The story has fast-paced writing, so I was immediately swept up in the world. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoy middle grade fantasy novels.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest, unbiased opinion.

Gracie, a preteen whose life has been spent in hiding, has come to terms with having been created as a villainous character in a book written by Gertrude Winters. Her life is marginally better after the adventures in Unwritten (reviewed here), since she and her best friend, Thomas, along with various other people, are squashed into Gertrude’s house. Not only that, the archvillain, Cassandra, is still at large, armed with the magical book, the Vademecum, which allows her to travel between real and literary worlds. Cassandra is no less obsessed with Gracie as her heir and adopted daughter. And now she’s using the Vademecum to track Gracie’s every thought and movement.

Meanwhile, Gracie stumbles on a box of Gertrude’s unpublished stories, tales in which the writer worked out her troubled relationship with her own daughter. Some are benign, like the one set on a cruise ship, but one was so dark, so filled with danger and gloom, that Gertrude refused to allow Gracie to read it. And it is into this Gothic horror story that Gracie and Thomas flee, with Cassandra on their heels.

The world of The Beast of Blackwood Hall is a parade of Gothic tropes: the isolated manor house, the wintry forest, the mysterious disappearances and even more mysterious illness; the newly deceased mother; the monster that lurks in the shadows. All of these are intensified by the limitations that the story itself places on Gracie and Thomas, for they cannot escape beyond the confines of the story, which is inexorably drawing to its fatal climax.

As with the first book, Unwritten, Gilboy’s tale offers much to the adult as well as the middle grade reader. The issues are not watered down or simplistic. She never condescends to her young audience. Rather, she trusts them to understand complex emotions, and that is perhaps the most compelling aspect of these books. Children become trustworthy by being trusted; they grow into emotionally mature adults by being presented with ambiguity and nuance.

Gracie . . . thought back to her conversations with Gertrude. “She said the monster was a metaphor for something, the dark parts of ourselves.” . . . She’d written the stories the way she had to avoid hurting real people, to put all her feelings onto the page, rather than lashing out at those she loved.
“Every story we read becomes a part of who we are in a small way.”

Gilboy’s stories definitely fall into that category.

This was a very solid sequel to a very enjoyable first book. It's filled with a lot of action, and you really get to see a lot of growth from Gracie as she continues to struggle with the way Gertrude wrote her. Although she has left her story behind, she still struggles with her self identity and becoming the person she wants to be, not who she is written to be. I liked that we got to visit a new story in this one; it made for an interesting plot and really allowed us to see Gracie's struggle. However, Gracie was a bit annoying and felt way too sorry for herself at times which took away some of the enjoyment. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read, and fans of the first book will enjoy this one as well.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a review copy.

Rewritten was strong sequel of Middle Grade Fantasy series Unwritten. It revolved around story characters and author of the story who created them and gave them life. It was about forgiveness, accepting the way you’re, being yourself, freedom to live your dream, consequences of restraints and lack of appreciation, and good vs bad.

Writing was intriguing, compelling and fast paced. All characters, setting and plot was well written and well described. I didn’t remember most of the things from first book because of 2 years gap between books but there was bits of first book here and there that helped me to recall important details. To know characters, their journey and world better, this should be read in order.

Plot was interesting. It was third person narrative from Gracie’s perspective. That synopsis perfectly said what was going on and how the book started so I’m not repeating those things.

First half of the book (actually 40% of the book) was about Gracie’s feelings, her frustration and desperation to prove herself; her life with all characters from her story along with her story’s writer and creator Gertrude Winters; how she discovered other stories written by Gertrude and why she wrote them; how evil Queen Cassandra of her story came back in her life; some interesting and most important discoveries about the magical book- Vademecum- how it was still writing Gracie’s story and was creating portal to other stories. And why and how Gracie entered one of Gertrude’s stories, The Beast of Blackwood Hall, where terrifying beast roamed at night and its ending was even worse than her story.

It was interesting to see how Gracie will save Walter in this horror story, if she can get away from Cassandra or steal Vademecum from her, how she and Walter will escape this horror story world or if something terrible will happen.

Characters were interesting. It was good to meet old characters once again but this time they were well written. Gracie was still grumpy, impulsive and stubborn girl in the beginning. Her feeling was genuine. Other characters looked at her like she was a trigger that might explode a bomb any time, bound to do something bad as she was a villain of her story… even though she changed the end of her story and saved characters. She was desperate to prove she was not what Gertrude has written. As story progressed she developed eventually.

I didn’t like the way Walter’s parents talked to Gracie. They were also spiteful towards Gertrude and banned her from writing any kind of fiction. It was not fair when they tried to blame her on discovering her past stories and forced her to throw them. Shouldn’t they be more mature and little forgiving after what she did for them? If I was in place of Gertrude, I would have thrown them out of my house. They made me think if I ever become writer and my stories came alive, I better write happy ending and pleasant character.

I really felt bad for Gertrude. Gertrude was expressing her guilt and feeling by letting them in her life and house. It was not her fault her story literally came to life or mean to hurt people in stories. I liked to know her and her life story in this book. It explained why she wrote such tragic stories and why characters of Bondoff only could travel to real world and not any of her other stories. This cleared many things that I couldn’t get in first book. She was wonderful character, she understood Gracie more and helped her grow by letting her know about her own faults and stories.

Story still focused on Gracie but I liked how her development depended on new characters Bryant and Mina and their story in The Beast of Blackwood Hall, which was rest of the book. This part was filled with Victorian horror world- the graveyard, old mansion, cold weather, Blackwood Hall, and beast. It all gave the story spooky feel. I loved Mina but didn’t like her brother Bryant. I could understand Gertrude’s mind and pain through this story.

We know Walter even more in this part. He was nerdy kid who unlike his parents liked story world and Gracie. His character was not explored much in first book but along with Gracie, we also learn about his feeling. How terrible he felt being under his parent’s watch all the time, for being hapless character of the story who didn’t contribute much and how he too wanted to feel important by changing the end of the horror story.

I liked the message in the book– How criticism from people you love affects your dream and make you feel shackled; respecting other’s privacy is important and some mistakes are less forgivable but at the same time all deserves second chance; how people are complicated and act based on situation, they can’t be boxed in just good or bad, bad behavior doesn’t mean person is bad or bad choice or act doesn’t mean you can’t ever be good.

Suspense of the beast was interesting. I could solve the half mystery by that first line Gracie remembered but what happened in the climax and later was uncertain. At some point I thought Gracie was going to get in so much trouble and wouldn’t able to get out of it. Walter shocked me more than anything else in this part. I was glad for the change of events and how Gracie understood to accept what she was rather than running away from it and got motive in life through this story. End was great. I can’t wait to see how she was going to change Lila’s story.

Overall, it was wonderful fantasy set in story world with a good message. I sure recommend this book and previous one to middle grade readers.

This book was amazing as the 1st one. Before reading this do read the first book so you will under the story better. The charcter and story was well written. Can't wait to read more of this book.
Thank you netgalley for providing with an E-Arc in exchange of an honest review.