Edrie Elen
This is a retelling of the famous “The Taming of the Shrew,” and I really very strongly feel that without a prior knowledge or reading of the play, you won't enjoy the book very much. It's quite short, only 237 pages, and to me felt like a novella read. Which is fine! I finished it in about 2 hours during a very slow afternoon at work (getting paid to read, but my boss doesn't know that, hehe).
I really appreciate that Tyler was able to keep the humor aspect of the original – I laughed out loud at several points. Kate and Pyotr are quirky separately and amusing together. Kate's tone is barbed but witty, and she comes across as not truly intending to hurt with her words but simply not seeing any point in the niceties of social interactions. The whole arranged marriage set-up is handled as a scam to get Kate's father's scientific assistant – Pyotr – a green card. Kate is understandably insulted and hurt by the scheme, but through a series of discussion and events – and a grudging sympathy for Pyotr – she is convinced.
Next, Kate and Pyotr on the living-room couch, a foot of space between them, Pyotr grinning broadly and doing his arm-along-the-seat-back thing while Kate, stony-faced, poked her left hand toward the photographer to display her diamond ring.
Hi Kate! We went to get marriage license!Who's we?Your father and I.Well I hope you'll be very happy together.
This book was like sitting down and eating a big bowl of jelly beans. Or maybe gummy bears. Yes, I think gummy bears. Without the calories!
My Lady Jane is a light-hearted, fun-filled, rollicking good time. It's billed as YA...fantasy? Alternate history? To me it feels most like humorous alternate history, complete with shapeshifting. Bwhahahaha. Such a refreshing turn on the whole Protestant/Roman Catholic problem. I loved that they took the very gloomy story of Lady Jane Grey and turned it into something so much fun. Note: no one dies in this version. Except...well. Anyway.
Something that always struck me the hardest about Jane's story is how freaking young all the main players were. Pawns on a chessboard to their scheming, conniving elders. Well, they're most definitely given their voices here! I was laughing before I got to the end of the second chapter, as the young King Edward is lamenting his death sentence:
There was so much he wanted to do with his life. First of, he wanted to kiss a girl, a pretty girl, the right girl, possibly with tongue.
She delighted in the smell of ink, the rough feel of the paper between her fingers, the rustle of sweet pages, the shapes of the letters before her eyes. And most of all, she loved the way that books could transport her from her otherwise mundane and stifling life and offer the experiences of a hundred other lives.
“Who are you calling beef-witted?” she laughed at him. “Your mother was a hamster, and your father stank of elderberries!”
“I might not be able to beat a weapons master, but I can easily best an old, top-heavy, pusillanimous, two-faced, paltry, odious excuse for a man.” He pushed his sword forward until it was against his father's coat. “Drop your sword.”
UGH!!! Can I have those hours of my life back, please? How in the world is this author so popular?
~Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!~ Warning: Possible spoilers for the first two books in this series (but not this one)!A Treacherous Curse is the third book in the Veronica Speedwell series, and there is so much development and we learn so much more about the main characters. I absolutely loved it! This is a continuous series, so you definitely need to read the first book, A Curious Beginning, and the second, A Perilous Undertaking, to be able to jump into this one.Our main squeezes are back, and in stellar form per usual. This time though, we are plunged headfirst into Stoker's backstory. FINALLY!!! I have been absolutely dying to know what happened in Brazil to make him so bitter and so hurt and scarred...and we FINALLY get to find out. It was just as gritty and heartbreaking as I expected it to be...I was actually sitting on our couch reading, curled in a ball with one hand clamped over my mouth (my husband was slightly concerned). Veronica is still trying to get over what happened in the previous book...which she will not talk about, with anyone, but which bothers her VERY much. For those who need a refresher... ...she and Stoker had finally made it to kissing (albeit while under the influence of opium, used for chasing a lead in their case, naturally), and IN THE MIDDLE of kissing her, he moaned his ex-wife's name. Phew! Talk about a mood killer. But the next day, he acted like he didn't remember anything at all happening and of course she was too mortified to mention it!. Somehow they still manage to be friends and partners but it's all been very tense.The mystery here was interesting but to me secondary to the character development. I was intrigued to see how Deanna would handle the egyptology angle, as that is one aspect of the Victorian era that seems to be worked over A LOT in mysteries. I'm happy to say that it was quite well done! Nothing particularly novel, but again the character development really took control here as we were introduced to some of the archaeologists leading the expedition in question, along with their families. I didn't figure out the culprit until near the actual end, which I loved. I hate it when I've figured a mystery out way before the characters!5/5 stars. A Treacherous Curse is a solid continuation of the storyline in this series and I am so excited for the next book!Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram
Real review forthcoming. Right now I can't articulate. I'm trying. But I love this book so much and I'm pretty SURE I'M GOING TO DIE WHILE WAITING FOR #3.
Dear god, this book dragged on. Very well-written, well-researched...just overkill on all the machinations of the 1893 Chicago World Fair. I was expecting more about the serial killer than the Fair, and it was opposite. Though the first 3 parts the chapters (for the most part alternating between the Fair and the nefarious doings of Holmes) on the Fair were much longer than the others. Very informative (I had no idea of the beginnings of Farris wheels or Juicy Fruit), but if you're expecting true crime, this isn't quite it.
Of course this sounds lovely and exactly like the kind of thing I want to read right now...and oh wait, it doesn't come out till January! Le sigh.
~full review on The Bent Bookworm~
I went into this book wanting a fluffy, feel-good, summertime read. I was not disappointed! It was as feel-good as a big pile of puppies.
I wanted to hug it at the end. I really wish I had read books like this when I was the same age as the characters (in this case, 16). Because while it has a few flaws, Love & Gelato is a beautiful story of love had, love lost, love remembered, and love hoped for. Even though I like to pretend I'm too tough for such sentimentality, I still have a real soft spot in my heart for a good happy ending. What really makes me happy though, is a happy ending that isn't just happily ever after. There's pain and sadness, enough drama to suit most high-school students but not enough to entirely put the adults off, but above all there is HOPE. Rainbow in the clouds kind of hope.
Anyway. The story starts out on a rather sad note, as 16-year-old Lina's mom passes from cancer, leaving behind quite the bombshell – surprise! Lina's never-before-heard-from father, who lives in Italy, wants her to come live with him, and it was her mother's dying wish (basically) that she go spend the summer with him.
^Basically Lina's reaction. With a lot more tears, because obviously her mom just died.
So off she hops to Italy, with much encouragement from her grandmother. She arrives, nearly has a meltdown over the fact that her father is the caretaker of a war memorial (i.e., he lives in a cemetery) – which I was first really annoyed about. I've never understood people's aversion to cemeteries, even when I was younger. I was always more fascinated than scared...not sure what that makes me, haha. But, given that Lina's mom has just died, I guess she can be forgiven her little freak out.
She almost immediately meets a cute neighbor boy, Ren, who is “as Italian as a plate of meatballs,” yet not quite, and there's a slight, almost-insta-crush. I say almost, because there are a lot of mixed signals, and a couple of chapters later there is insta-LOVE that made me throw up in my mouth a little. There are several moments that made me laugh out loud – and I think most readers will join me no matter where they fall on the age scale! The people in the little community she finds are memorable, lovable, and sometimes just hysterical.
While all that is going down, she's also finding out more about her mom – mostly through a journal her mom mysteriously mailed to Italy ahead of her, but also through the memories of the people there who remember her from her youth – her dad, and exploring Italy. Italy. How many 16-year-olds get to go to Italy?? I was really glad that Lina didn't just wallow in her sadness or her boy-crush and actually went out and explored. You can really tell the author has been to Florence herself – I felt like I was walking the streets right beside Lina.
We also see Florence 16 years prior, through the eyes of Lina's mom via her journal. They both fall in love with gelato. I have yet to get to experience real Italian gelato for myself, but even the exported stuff makes me weak-kneed.
I can't say a whole lot here without giving spoilers, but suffice to say some things just don't add up, a lot of things don't have the happy ending we might expect and there are a couple of big surprises. Love hurts. People make the wrong choices. But sometimes, we all get a second chance.
Turns out there's a reason they call it falling in love, because when it happens – really happens – that's exactly how it feels...you just let go and hope that someone's going to be there to catch you. Otherwise, you're going to end up with some pretty hefty bruises.
Come on, Janet. You can do better than this. Barely a handful of giggles through the whole thing, and Lizzy is sounding pretty much exactly like Stephanie Plum.
~This review first appeared on The Bent Bookworm!~This book made me happy. Happy in the contented, yeeeeees this was good kind of way. I don't read that many contemporaries (usually find them trite and boring), so I don't think I'm easy to please – but this book. I pretty much clutched it to myself and gave it a hug when I finished. Also can I please have this quote on t-shirt:I'm not easy. Never have been.Julia is a tough cookie. A tough cookie with an artist's heart and soul. I love her so much, even though I'm not sure she would like me, hehe. She has been hurt so many times in life that she just builds up walls against everyone, which is something I can definitely relate to – though not for the same reasons. I love her independence and how she embraces her Deafness, refusing to allow it to be a liability or anything negative in her life. Not to say she doesn't struggle and hurt – she does. But she overcomes and she doesn't wallow in her sadness.I bury my face in the cushion of my beautiful armchair, my command center, and scream. Over and over, my throat vibrating and crackling with fire. Nobody comes to see what's wrong. Nobody can hear me.This was my first experience in the Deaf world. I have some older family members who are deaf, but they are far removed so I really don't have any contact with anyone Deaf. While this is not an OwnVoices novel, the author appears to have THOROUGHLY done her research, as many people who either are deaf or have close deaf family members have reviewed this book and given it mad props for an accurate portrayal of the Deaf community. SO HAPPY about that! I was very intrigued by the fact that there are “Deaf” people and “deaf” people...I had no idea.Julia does a lot of growing in this book. And in case anyone doesn't remember from being a pre-teen or teenager...growing pains are real. Both the physical and mental kind. In this case Julia learns a lot about friendships, and letting people go. It HURTS, people...but she grows through it and it's a beautiful thing.Diversity is HUGE in this book, and (to me, a very NOT marginalized person) it seems to be presented as such a normal thing, no one bats an eye (except one teacher at some point in the narrative, but that's only realistic I suppose).- Julia is Indian American, and while it only occurs once in the book itself, she is often the target of racial slurs – many of which don't even apply to her, but are due to people making ASSUMPTIONS based on her skin color. #RAGE- Julia has two moms. I'm embarrassed to admit this is the first book I've met with that kind of representation, but I really enjoyed seeing/reading it. It's so completely normal, and they both play such huge roles in Julia's life. The narrative spent just enough time explaining the relationship between the 3 of them to help the reader avoid having a constant “but how...?” in the back of the mind while reading.- Julia is Deaf, and her moms are both Deaf as well. See above comments.- Julia is a graffiti artist – this may not technically qualify under the diversity label, but come on – graffiti artists are DEFINITELY in the minority. I loved that pictures of her art were included in the book – I have troubling picturing things without pictures and finding out that the illustrations were included was one of the main reasons I bought a hard copy instead of an ebook!I might be burning bridges, but they're my bridges to burn.Burn, baby, burn.I loved pretty much everything about this book. Please go read. I'm super excited to have found another debut author that I absolutely love!Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+
~Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!~ “You will wish you had been kinder.”WHOA!!! The series took a HUGE leap forward in intensity with this installment. I had pretty much decided nothing much would surprise me with it and was just sort of trundling along...and then I got smacked in the face! The ending is a total shocker and cliffhanger (unless you are WAY better than I am at picking up on foreshadowing and curveballs). Still nothing inappropriate for middle grade (elementary school age) readers. Against the Tide is also the first in this series to actually have what I would call quotable lines. There was some humor alongside of all the “OMG” happening, and I actually went and looked up the author's other books because I enjoyed it that much. Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram
~Full review and comments on The Bent Bookworm!~There was a time, not long agoWhen flowers grew all yearWhen days were longAnd nights star-strewnAnd men lived free from fearJust to clarify: The Bear and the Nightingale (TBATN) is NOT a YA book. I've seen it pop up on several lists as such, but it is not. It's also NOT historical fiction, though it is heavily inspired by historical, medieval Russia. It is adult fantasy that reads almost entirely like historical fiction until Part II, where it starts to feel like magical realism historical fiction...so let's just keep it simple and say fantasy. Could some teenagers read it and appreciate it? Yes, but the style is very different from most YA, and some of the content is definitely adult (marital rape and a little graphic violence). This obviously didn't deter me from ADORING it, but I thought the slight genre-confusion I've been noticing was worth a mention.In Russian, Frost was called Morocco, the demon of winter. But long ago, the people called him Karachun, the death-god. Under that name, he was king of black midwinter who came for bad children and froze them in the night.Feels:I am in love. With everything. With the world, with the characters, with the woods, the village. With Vasya. A little bit with Alyosha. I wept with Vasya and her family. I saw the spirits as Vasya did. I felt the fear of the villagers. I felt the pain and confusion of a young child with a wild, free spirit in a world that didn't accept her. The writing in TBATN is astounding. Lyrical, whimsical, and utterly entrancing.Characters:“I am only a country girl,” said Vasya. “I have never seen Tsargrad, or angels, or heard the voice of God. But I think you should be careful, Batyushka, that God does not speak in the voice of your own wishing. We have never needed saving before.”Vasya, the main character, is my sister from another mother. I swear. Her love of nature, her stubborn refusal to accept the fate others wish to push on her, her refusal to be broken. I already said I love her but it bears repeating. The story spans from right before her birth to the time she is 14 years old. She doesn't have an easy life, but she has to be one of the most resilient people I've ever met. Bent, at times, but never broken.“All my life I am told how I will live, and I am told how I must die. I must be a man's servant and a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls and surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing.”Now no joke, there are quite a few characters in this story. However, they are all so clear and distinct I was never confused. Not once. Not even with the Russian names. I did have to realize in the beginning that everyone had a given (fancy) name and a called (shorter, plainer) name, but since Arden stuck mostly to the called names it wasn't hard. Also, each character experiences a growth arc in the book. No matter how minor, they show some growth and change – sometimes for good, sometimes for bad! That is an incredible feat and after reading so many books with such flat minor characters – amazing.Romance – guess what? There is none. None. None, none, none, NONE! It's such a beautiful breath of fresh air. There IS marriage. There's also sex – and by sex I mean marital rape. It's not graphic, but it's obvious. I feel it's treated as well as such a thing CAN be – these are medieval times, and in those times women were no more than property, no matter how highly valued that property. The women themselves often never questioned the right of their fathers and husbands to barter with them and then use their bodies for their own pleasure – it was a husband's right and a wife's duty! insert much sarcasm It definitely effects the entire dynamic of the story.Plot:TBATN is not a fast-paced book. It's a slow burn building up to more and more – and it's TOTALLY worth the read. All the details are beautiful and intriguing, and they really add to the mystery and overall atmosphere. The characters are really the driving force, and all the drama and suspense are very slow to build but after spending several chapters getting to know the people and the country I was already so invested I already knew I was in for the haul. Things really start to pick up with the arrival of a new priest in Vasya's village. There is a struggle between the new Catholic church and the old spirits of the land and as things start to happen at first NOTHING is explained. Everything just kept building and building and there's even a little mini-climax at one point (which was EXTREMELY satisfying), but things just keep going! Not only did it keep going, it picked up speed and I was completely wrapped up in the story.As previously stated, there is no actual romance in TBATN. It doesn't need it. There's also not an entirely happy ending. It is...heartrending, yet hopeful at the same time. There's no actual cliffhanger, but so much room for additional stories, and Vasya's fate and path seem far from decided.Worldbuilding/Setting:Phenomenal. It truly has a historical feel to it. I'm not all that well-versed in Russian history or mythology, but the detailed notes on language and history at the end, as well as the comments I've read from people native to that part of the world seem to bear out that thought as well. The descriptions allow you to fall through the pages into the story, and it really feels like a full sensory experience. When the mythological creatures begin to appear, it feels so amazingly right.Rating/Further Notes:5 stars. I don't have any more words for how beautifully savage this book is. I can't wait to see what Katherine Arden comes up with next. I've heard rumors this is the first of a trilogy, but in her author Q&A page I only see mention of a sequel. I'll be buying whatever she comes up with!Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!2019 - Still in love with this book and this entire series.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+
~Full review notes on The Bent Bookworm!~“I am a frightened girl, a roaring river and night incarnate....And I will not be tethered. My life belongs to me.”Feels:Reading The Star-Touched Queen was like falling headfirst into a swirling vortex of color, light, and strange beasts. It was beautiful, fascinating, terrifying, and slightly confusing at times.Characters:Maya is one of the many sons and daughters of the Raja of Bharata. Ostracized for her “cursed” horoscope her entire life, Maya has developed more independent thinking than most of her sisters. I immediately admired her resiliency in adapting to her less-than-ideal circumstances. I loved her protectiveness towards her younger sister Gauri. Very endearing. I didn't quite understand some aspects of Maya's character though...some of which I think may be due to cultural differences. For instance, near the beginning of the book, she makes a certain choice (no spoilers), that for the life of me I cannot understand and to me seems very out of character for what we know of her, up to that point, and even to her as we see later in the book. I just don't understand it at all.Maya does a lot of growing in this story. She changes. She comes to realize who and what she is, is not determined by her horoscope.Once, I would have hurled curses at the stars. But the longer I looked, the less I hated them. The stars, filled with cold light and secrets...I, not the starlight, shaped my decisions.Amar is the hero of the story...or is he? What is he? He's so mysterious, so confusing...and holy shit, the man has some of the most amazing one-liners I've ever read. Like melt-my-heart kind of one-liners. Stop and think and WOW kind of one-liners. At the same time...he seemed to be a lot of smooth talk and not a whole lot of action. At least that was my impression. As more of his character and his life is revealed...well, you'll have to judge him for yourself. His quotes are amazing though.“I make this bond to you in blood, not flowers.”“There is no romance in real grief, only longing and fury.”To be honest, while I liked both Maya and Amar, I wasn't OMG invested in either one of them. I think this was at partially because I was so overwhelmed by the world and everything that was happening (more on that later). I'm really eager to see how the next book plays out, thought I'm afraid that since it's focusing on Gauri, we won't really get to know Maya and Amar much better.Plot:Bharata is at war. The Raja will stop at nothing, nothing, to win and secure peace. However, all that quickly takes a backseat to the journey that Maya takes with Amar, to the kingdom of Akaran. Everything slows way down once they arrive there, and several chapters are spent wandering around the palace and discovering ALL SORTS OF THINGS. It was beautiful, but it was slow. While I was intrigued, I kept wondering when something was going to happen.Once things started moving again (oh look...there's ONE THING Maya is not supposed to do...and what do we all do when told about ONE THING?), they really start moving. I was NOT prepared for all the world-time-space jumping and more than once literally felt like I was falling into that vortex. It was amazing, but it seemed a bit disjointed at times.About halfway through the book, I realized that there were really TWO major plot lines. My little light-bulb came on, and that was very helpful...but I really feel like it could have somehow been done better to avoid all the “WTF is going on” moments I had. I really doubt I'm the only one having these thoughts, but if I am...you know. I might just be weird.I really like that there is no prince-saving-the-princess going on here. Yes, there is a love story. It's beautiful, and powerful. However. Maya and Amar both remain fully their own people and in the end, Maya is the one who really does the saving.Worldbuilding/Setting:This, my friends, is where The Star-Touched Queen shines. The world building here is nothing short of phenomenal. The fuzziness of the plot was forgivable so long as I could live in this bright, beautiful, and unfathomably deep world. It glows. It glitters. Rosin Chokshi employs all five of the reader's senses when building her world. I could smell the spices, see the split skies, hear the jingle of bells. It's by turns beautiful and frightening.The world and characters are largely drawn from traditional Indian (Hindu?) mythology and culture. Now, I am almost entirely unfamiliar with both, so maybe I was a little more in awe and sometimes a little more confused than a reader with more background. I had next to none, but the awesome thing is: it didn't matter. Chokshi has missed nothing...I could see every step Maya took in the palace halls, I could feel her falling through space, I could see both the beauty and the horror of her journey. As someone with no frame of reference for this world, I can't say enough good things about this aspect of the book. I was fascinated. When I was confused, it wasn't for lack of being able to picture what was going on but being at a loss as to WHY or HOW something was happening.I had never read a fantasy book where reincarnation was treated as...well, as anything! It added an amazing new element and all kinds of new possibilities. I found it a little hard to wrap my head around, but I hope to see it again in the second book.Rating/Thoughts:4/5 stars. Half a star off for the meandering and delay of the plot after the story moves to Akaran, half a star for the confusion and lack of explaining on how the space/time thing worked. Maybe I'm just a confused muppet but I really could have used a little more explanation...shocking, coming from someone who usually complains about too much telling versus showing.I'd love to hear what other readers thought of this book! Was I the only one confused?Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+
~Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!~ A Dangerous Collaboration is the fourth in the amazing Veronica Speedwell mystery series by Deanna Raybourn! This is definitely a series you need to start at the beginning with, so if you haven't already be sure to go read the first three books – A Curious Beginning (#1), A Perilous Undertaking (#2), and A Treacherous Curse (#3).Warning: Possible spoilers for the first three books of the series, but not for this one!I was really startled when I began reading this book! It starts off with Veronica leaving England – and Stoker – and going off with Lady Cordelia for six months overseas. SAY WHAT?!? You separated my darlings, WHY?? Very little page time is given to this six months, other than to say both ladies fell ill on the trip (but not deathly ill), and Veronica spent much time thinking about Stoker and her feelings and wondering why he didn't write even though she had told him not to.Eventually they return, and she and Stoker are so stilted and awkward, it's like they had taken one step forward and about ten back. Before they even BEGIN to work this out though, as friends or professionals, Stoker's brother Tiberius (introduced in the first book, gradually getting more screen time as the series goes on) bursts in on them and asks Veronica to go with him to an old school friend's gathering on a remote island (dun dun dun DUN)...posing as his fiancee'. Needless to say...they all three end up going, and shenanigans ensue.The mystery on the island was the most engrossing one in the series so far, in my opinion. After floundering through the first few chapters (seriously, everyone had emotionally regressed...it was so disconcerting!) I really got into it once things moved to the island. As Veronica (and Stoker...and Tiberius...) try to solve the mystery of what happened to Tiberius's friends bride, they uncover more and more secrets. It was DELICIOUS!In the interest of NOT spoiling anything, I won't give any details, but by the end of the book I was very satisfied with the character progression once more. However, now I want more of Tiberius. He has become a character of interest. I need to see more of his bruised heart and soul...and I would be VERY interested to see if a woman who could handle him and his...proclivities...could be found!Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram
Full review on The Bent Bookworm
This is one of those books that grabs you and just doesn't let go. I finished it four days ago and I still find myself thinking about the characters and wondering about them. It ended not so much on a cliffhanger exactly, as just leaving us with SO MANY QUESTIONS. Not only of the “what happens next” variety, but of the “why did they do that” and “how did THAT happen” sort.
The story is set in a world where reading is prohibited and books are unknown.
Well, that was certainly MY reaction to that idea, but these people quite literally don't know what they're missing. It's just the way their world is, and no one remembers (or perhaps never knew) anything different.
Two curves for her parents, a curve for Nin. The straight line for herself. The circle for what she had to do.
In Kelanna, when you die, they don't say prayers for you, for they have no heaven and no gods to pray to. There is no reincarnation; you will not return. Without a body, ou are nothing anymore, except for a story.
DNF at page 136.
I couldn't do it. I'm over halfway through and was just draaaaagging myself into it every evenings this week. I felt like I was back in college reading a book I had absolutely no interest in finishing. I can't even really say anything bad about the writing - hence the 2 star rating even for a DNF. He has a great sense of description and he set the atmosphere...but he jumped around a lot. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. I didn't give a damn about a single one of them. There were crazy, bad things happening, but there was no rhyme or reason behind WHY they were happening...just these two boys, and one was born right before Halloween and one right after and now this weird carnival...why? I can think of 50 different ways to write a better Halloween story.
Bummed, because I really wanted to like this story, but I don't have enough hours in my days to force myself to finish books that haven't kept my interest halfway through.
This was a charming reworking of Shakespeare's “A Winter's Tale.” Some points surprised me, at first striking me as a bit more twisted than Shakespeare...but oh yeah, we're talking about Shakespeare, who didn't give a damn about political correctness and loved pulling out all the dark, twisted depths of the human heart for all to see.
~Full review notes on The Bent Bookworm!~“Nothing from the ocean is meant to survive on land forever.”Feels:Satisfaction. I adored the resolution of this book. It's not a perfect happily-ever-after (HEA) and that makes ME so very, very happy. I'm a disgruntled, hard-hearted porcupine when it comes to love, and while I like endings with hope, only rarely do I completely get behind a tidy little HEA. FtDD has a very hopeful ending, but one that could go several different ways. I loved that.Characters:It took me awhile to warm up to Bridey, I'll be honest. She is so defined by her fear of the sea that at first that is the only quality I saw in her. As the story goes on though, I came to genuinely like her. Lugh and Cat, her best friends, I wish we had seen a little more of. I felt sorry for them as she kind of abandoned them to go work with Morag and then in her absorption with Fynn.Fynn is something of a mystery for most of the book. A lot of reviews I saw complained about the insta-love between him and Bridey, but to me it was believable BECAUSE from the very beginning, it's obvious Fynn is not just a normal human boy. Because of that, I feel like the insta-love is understandable and realistic – even though I usually DESPISE it.Morag was my favorite character. An odd choice, I guess – but I loved her. I love that she was old and crotchety and hurt – both physically and emotionally, yet she was such a wise woman and genuinely cared about people. She was like a gingerbread cookie...crunchy on the outside but soft and delicious on the inside (that IS how you make your gingerbread cookies, right?).Plot:FtDD starts off kind of slow, not going to lie. It's beautiful and haunting, but slow. The pace picks up about a third of the way through, and I was completely drawn into the Isle of Man world Sarah Marsh has created. I already wanted to visit but now I want to go even more!At first I thought I had misjudged the cover blurb and this was a historical fiction YA with some mythology thrown in...but no. It soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems on the idyllic Isle, regardless of what the villagers want to believe. And of course no one wants to listen to the tales of old women or the vision of the young. No one wants to believe that maybe the faery stories are more than stories.Worldbuilding/Description:Beautiful. Idyllic. Almost mystical and definitely slightly creepy. I loved it. It felt so real...next time I'm at the ocean I'm going to be on the lookout for creepy ghosts playing violins. I still want to visit the Isle of Man though.Rating:4/5 stars. There were some things I felt were too easily explained away, like some things about Fynn. Some things I felt happened too easily...like once Bridey got over her fear, suddenly she was a grand rescuer...but they were small things, and adrenaline and love do give people almost superhuman strength sometimes.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+
~Full review on The Bent Bookworm!~I have done my best to avoid spoilers and there are definitely no plot spoilers! However if you don't want to know ANYTHING about the characters you might not want to read.[b:Throne of Glass 7896527 Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1) Sarah J. Maas https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495278054l/7896527.SY75.jpg 11138426] launches us into what promises to be an epic fantasy adventure. I love the way we're immediately thrown in with Celaena in a dangerous, scary situation because I, naturally, want to know HOW THE FUCK she ended up there. Also how she can seem to be so young and yet so skilled, so brutal...and yet so obsessed with frilly dresses.Both of these are totally Celaena. I'm still not sure how she does it or why, especially as she even notes that all the layers of skirts hamper her fighting skills. Only somehow she doesn't seem to get caught in particularly bad situations while all dolled up. Hmm.The forest was different here. The leaves dangled like jewels – tiny droplets of ruby, pearl, topaz, amethyst, emerald, and garnet; and a carpet of such riches coated the forest floor around them. Despite the ravages of conquest, this part of Oakwald Forest remained untouched. It still echoed with the remnants of the power that had once given these trees such unnatural beauty.Maas has created a beautiful world that is by turns thrilling, intriguing, and terrifying. I would like to visit, but retain the option to return to my own world with the push of a button.
~Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!~ “I have a degree in history, which is one of the reasons I'm an auto mechanic.”Somehow, I am only now getting into the very popular and long-running Mercy Thompson series. It's been recommended to me for years, but I put it off...and now I am in the fortunate position of having 11 books to binge if I so choose...my library has all of the main books, but I think I'll have to hunt down the many, many side short stories.Can we just take a moment and lament this unfortunate cover? eyeroll I really, really hate cover art of this style. I literally refuse to buy physical copies of books with covers that use solely sex appeal to sell. Thankfully, there is an alternative cover version of these, which I did buy after deciding this was a series I could enjoy over the long term.“Honey,” he drawled, pulling on his Southern roots. “When a wolf watches a lamb, he's not thinking of the lamb's mommy.”I grinned. I couldn't help it. The idea of Bran as a lamb's mommy was too funny. “I'm not much of a lamb,” I said.Things I Liked- There is just so much wit infused through the entire book. I chuckled so many times and belly-laughed a few times as well. Mercy has such a dry sense of humor, I loved it.- The age-old werewolves vs. vampires thing is present, which makes it easy for anyone remotely familiar with that mythology to jump into this story.- Politics, brawls, and feelings – there's a mess of all three, and I feel like there is SO MUCH backstory for all the main characters yet to be explored.Things I Didn't Like- I was not entirely convinced of the attraction between Mercy and Bran. It felt a little forced. Also, I'm kind of terrified it's going to turn into something a la Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and her never-ending-on-again-off-again relationship.- The guys don't seem to entirely respect Mercy. They're forced by circumstances to let her participate, but they keep trying to baby her. ARGH!If You Liked...- Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, you'll probably like this series. Very similar in setting, but with a female main character and different tone.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram
~Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!~ “Mrs. Clutterthorpe, I can hardly think of any fate worse than becoming the mother of six. Unless perhaps it were plague, and even then I am persuaded a few disfiguring buboes and possible death would be preferable to motherhood.”Review of a re-read! I actually read A Curious Beginning almost four years ago, when it first came out. I totally intended to buy the second as soon as it was available, but then it came out with a SHOCKINGLY mismatched cover and yes, I was that shallow. I'm really sad that I didn't keep up with them (also, note: authors have no control over their book covers so it was really stupid of me to essentially “boycott” the second one just because of the cover, even though I totally meant to read it as soon as I could get over my dislike of the cover).I recently got my hands on the next three (!!!) books in the series, and when I started the second one I realized that I remembered very, VERY little of the first book. So here we are! My enthusiasm for this book knows few bounds, as is best illustrated by HOW MANY TIMES I had to update my GoodReads status for it whilst reading (scroll down to the end of this review to see, hehe).FeelsThe intrigue! The mystery! The secrets! The sexual tension! Ahem. Okay, I might be getting a little carried away. There aren't really any punch-to-the-gut feelings that come along with this story, or at least I didn't think so. It's much more about the mystery surrounding Veronica, why so many people are suddenly interested in a young, unfashionably scientific woman. Stoker, with whom she is thrown together by chance, has a good many secrets that he is quite determined to keep hidden. He basically oozes bad-boy sexuality (in a Victorian sort of way), but actually has quite a soft heart.“There are times when it is entirely safe to show one's vulnerability, to roll over and reveal the soft underbelly beneath. But there are other times when pain must be borne without a murmur, when the pain is so consuming that if you give in to it, even in the slightest, you have lost everything.”The banter is what really makes this book come alive. I laughed out loud SO many times – and not because the SITUATION itself was funny, or far-fetched. Veronica and Stoker just constantly throw one-liners at each other and it's hysterical. The sexual tension grows and grows throughout the book and I was totally there for it! I was a bit non-plussed at the “ending,” but it made me all the more excited for the next installment. PlotSince this is a mystery, it's not possible to say MUCH without giving it away. But, it revolves around Veronica and the circumstances of her birth, and why people appear to be either trying to kill or kidnap her. The details aren't ever especially gory, but it doesn't quite feel like a cozy mystery to me, either. I'm vaguely reminded of the Amelia Peabody series, but with more sizzle.SettingVictorian England, with all the trappings that come along with that era. However, this is probably NOT the book or series for you if you are a stickler for details. The physical details seem fairly accurate, but Veronica is a very independent lady and quite the free-thinker, not just with regards to her whole-hearted pursuit of science but in her “dalliances.” I find it very hard to believe there would be someone in this setting who wasn't completely ostracized from society...though perhaps I just haven't studied the right history. I did thoroughly enjoy the scientific aspect of the book, and found myself Googling the scientific names of various butterflies to see what exactly she was looking at!4.5/5 stars. Half a star reduction was for what I felt was a fairly common plot – not an unenjoyable one, but any means, but a twist could have been nice too. 😉Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram