Books and toys and shiny things
Mar. 11th, 2013 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impy*dances* My AG stuff came today. Pretty early in the day, too. Not that I've put any outfits on anyone yet, but I did peek at everything. It's all so pretty!
To refresh the memory, we acquired the following shiny things:
Kit's Birthday Dress.
It comes with the hair ribbon and the dress. It's very simple but very pretty. I bought it for my Ruthie to use. I'm pretty sure she'll look stunning in it because, well, she's Ruthie.
Sweet Spring Dress 2013
I wasn't sure who would get this one, and I'm still not 100% positive, but I opened the box and immediately thought of Ivy. Granted, Ivy has me pretty well trained to think of her whenever I see something cute, what with that whole having no real outfits of her own, but still. Mums thought the same thing.
Also, the dress is beautiful in person. I don't really understand the sparkle hate because it's not gaudy; it adds shimmer and depth to an outfit that could have turned dull without it.
Caroline's Travel Outfit
Sonali or Cecile is likely to run away with this because hello, gorgeous. :p I wasn't too fussed with this one when Caroline premiered but then I saw it on other dolls and realized how pretty it is in its own right, even if I'm not super in love with it on Caroline. And when I next bitch about the prices on the outfits, remind me I really do love getting shoes with the outfits. I like it more when there are socks or stockings, too, but there's something satsifying about getting a dress and shoes all at once.
Molly's Floral Pajamas
The set that kicked off my need for an order. I think they're really pretty and I think Molly (the character) would love them. She was always looking for ways to make things fancier/prettier, so she'd definitely appreciate these. I'm a bit amused and baffled by people who think of Molly as a tomboy (thus think these pajamas aren't her style) and have read the books. Molly is probably the least tomboyish of all the historical girls. She actively tries to curl her hair to look prettier, is interested in pretty things, and when given half a chance, dreams of fancy outfits. The girl's collection is the way it is simply because of the time, not because it's what she'd have chosen herself. :P
They do give off a bit of a scrubs feel, but they're awfully pretty anyway. Not sure who will get to try them out since I don't have a Molly or Emily yet. *muse*
Overall, I'm very happy with my order. Usually there's something that, upon arrival, I think "man, why did I get X when I should've gotten Y" but this time I was happy with each unveiling. I guess dithering back and forth for a couple of weeks worked out in the end.
Book review time! Cass has a free trial of Amazon Prime and she let me put in a book order while the new mysteries are (were?) 3.75 each. I bought Caroline's new mystery (shown), Julie's, and Marie-Grace's. I've read Caroline's and it was... Well. You'll see.
In the land of adult AG collectors, not everyone reads the books. I think this is a shame but what can you do about it? Those that do read the books, however, mostly agree on one thing lately: Caroline's books are fantastic. And they really, really are. This mystery is no exception. It picks up almost immediately where book #6 leaves off, but instead of Caroline still being at her uncle's farm, she's now back home for a little bit.
Shortly after she arrives home for the Independence Day celebration, a friend of her father's shows up at their door. Caroline's father is thrilled as he'd been told his friend died and obviously this was not the case. Yay! When Mr. Abbot realizes his friend has no job, he quickly offers him one down at the shipyard.
As the title implies, things begin to go wonky shortly thereafter. The book is written so that you keep telling yourself "just a few pages more" and it's difficult to put down. Not every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, but it's so easy to slip into Caroline's world that you don't need cliffhangers to keep the momentum going.
I'm not a big fan of mysteries that don't allow you to solve them as a reader, and luckily Traitor encourages you to follow along with Caroline as she attempts to solve the mystery before something horrible happens. There are fairly high stakes, what with a war going on, and there's a moment when those stakes really hit Caroline and her family. Younger readers may have a bit of a hard time with it.
When the ship that's being built goes for its test voyage, Caroline takes her skiff out to cheer the crew on. She uncovers a plot to blow up the ship, complete with stumbling over a barrel filled with gunpowder, and is shot at. The ship, with her father and quite a few men she's known all her life, would have exploded had Caroline not saved the day.
About the only bad thing I can say about the book is that sometimes the dialog seems too modern, though I have no real way of knowing since I'm not a ten year old in 1812. :P
Seriously, a great read.
To refresh the memory, we acquired the following shiny things:
Kit's Birthday Dress.
It comes with the hair ribbon and the dress. It's very simple but very pretty. I bought it for my Ruthie to use. I'm pretty sure she'll look stunning in it because, well, she's Ruthie.
Sweet Spring Dress 2013
I wasn't sure who would get this one, and I'm still not 100% positive, but I opened the box and immediately thought of Ivy. Granted, Ivy has me pretty well trained to think of her whenever I see something cute, what with that whole having no real outfits of her own, but still. Mums thought the same thing.
Also, the dress is beautiful in person. I don't really understand the sparkle hate because it's not gaudy; it adds shimmer and depth to an outfit that could have turned dull without it.
Caroline's Travel Outfit
Sonali or Cecile is likely to run away with this because hello, gorgeous. :p I wasn't too fussed with this one when Caroline premiered but then I saw it on other dolls and realized how pretty it is in its own right, even if I'm not super in love with it on Caroline. And when I next bitch about the prices on the outfits, remind me I really do love getting shoes with the outfits. I like it more when there are socks or stockings, too, but there's something satsifying about getting a dress and shoes all at once.
Molly's Floral Pajamas
The set that kicked off my need for an order. I think they're really pretty and I think Molly (the character) would love them. She was always looking for ways to make things fancier/prettier, so she'd definitely appreciate these. I'm a bit amused and baffled by people who think of Molly as a tomboy (thus think these pajamas aren't her style) and have read the books. Molly is probably the least tomboyish of all the historical girls. She actively tries to curl her hair to look prettier, is interested in pretty things, and when given half a chance, dreams of fancy outfits. The girl's collection is the way it is simply because of the time, not because it's what she'd have chosen herself. :P
They do give off a bit of a scrubs feel, but they're awfully pretty anyway. Not sure who will get to try them out since I don't have a Molly or Emily yet. *muse*
Overall, I'm very happy with my order. Usually there's something that, upon arrival, I think "man, why did I get X when I should've gotten Y" but this time I was happy with each unveiling. I guess dithering back and forth for a couple of weeks worked out in the end.
Book review time! Cass has a free trial of Amazon Prime and she let me put in a book order while the new mysteries are (were?) 3.75 each. I bought Caroline's new mystery (shown), Julie's, and Marie-Grace's. I've read Caroline's and it was... Well. You'll see.
In the land of adult AG collectors, not everyone reads the books. I think this is a shame but what can you do about it? Those that do read the books, however, mostly agree on one thing lately: Caroline's books are fantastic. And they really, really are. This mystery is no exception. It picks up almost immediately where book #6 leaves off, but instead of Caroline still being at her uncle's farm, she's now back home for a little bit.
Shortly after she arrives home for the Independence Day celebration, a friend of her father's shows up at their door. Caroline's father is thrilled as he'd been told his friend died and obviously this was not the case. Yay! When Mr. Abbot realizes his friend has no job, he quickly offers him one down at the shipyard.
As the title implies, things begin to go wonky shortly thereafter. The book is written so that you keep telling yourself "just a few pages more" and it's difficult to put down. Not every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, but it's so easy to slip into Caroline's world that you don't need cliffhangers to keep the momentum going.
I'm not a big fan of mysteries that don't allow you to solve them as a reader, and luckily Traitor encourages you to follow along with Caroline as she attempts to solve the mystery before something horrible happens. There are fairly high stakes, what with a war going on, and there's a moment when those stakes really hit Caroline and her family. Younger readers may have a bit of a hard time with it.
When the ship that's being built goes for its test voyage, Caroline takes her skiff out to cheer the crew on. She uncovers a plot to blow up the ship, complete with stumbling over a barrel filled with gunpowder, and is shot at. The ship, with her father and quite a few men she's known all her life, would have exploded had Caroline not saved the day.
About the only bad thing I can say about the book is that sometimes the dialog seems too modern, though I have no real way of knowing since I'm not a ten year old in 1812. :P
Seriously, a great read.