Tag: review

• Book Review: “All the Truth That’s in Me” by Julie Berry

  Posted at 12:05 pm by Laura, on November 24, 2013

  All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry 

  Publisher: Viking
  Published: September 2013
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780670786152
  Goodreads: 4.05
  Rating: ★★★

  Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever.

  Two years ago, Judith returned to her village after having disappeared without a trace. At first her friends and family were relieved of her appearance, but when they realized her tongue had been cut and she was made a mute, they begin to turn their backs on her. But after an attack on her village stirs up questions about her past and the boy she’s in love with, she is faced with a life-changing decision: remain mute about her experience in the woods, or speak the truth and change everyone’s lives.

  Berry uses a very unique technique in her writing: not only is the entire story told in second person — Julie’s thoughts are all directed at Lucas, the boy she loves — but it’s also fragmented. It’s just like reading thoughts, rather than reading a standard plot. It adds a whole new dimension to the story. The twists at the end — who captured Judith, what happened while she disappeared, what really happened to her friend, what happened at the battle at the beginning of the book — is so unexpected it made the entire experience worth the read.

  However, I’ll admit that what prevented me from giving this a higher rating is the mysterious setting. It bothered me throughout the novel that I could not place the location and time. It felt anywhere between 1650s, with the Puritans and their rigid society, and early 1800s, with the remote village setting and strong sense of community (like the Western frontier) over business (like the East). I asked the author if Roswell was the city in New Mexico, and if it was set in 1850s (settlers from Missouri set up in Roswell, NM around that time), and she said it’s not New Mexico and not 1850s, but the 17th century. Now, all of this would have been fine as an answer, but there were elements that just didn’t seem to work. Where were the Native Americans? Who were the homelanders? Why are they fighting battles? Why isn’t God a more prominent aspect in their society? Why does the clothing sound wrong for that time period? Some bits and pieces of this novel felt extremely anachronistic, and a part of it is because the time is never specified, nor is the place. I began to wonder if this was like The Village movie, because things just seemed off.

  I’m of the camp that thinks it’s incredibly important to give a time and place for your readers, fantasy or contemporary or historical fiction. Some sort of indicator needs to be addressed — it doesn’t need to be spelled out blatantly, but it does need context clues. All the clues we are given in this book point in different directions. Apart from this confusion, this story about a mute, about right and wrong, about captivity and abuse, was worth the read.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 3 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Promise of Amazing” by Robin Constantine (ARC)

  Posted at 4:30 am by Laura, on November 20, 2013

  The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine 

  Publisher: Balzer + Bray
  Publishing Date: December 31, 2013
  Genre: young adult
  ISBN: 9780062279484
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★

  Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who’s always done what she’s supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

  Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

  One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

  Wren, a junior at an all-girls private school, has been told time and again that she is too quiet for teachers to find her remarkable, and too average to be accepted into various honor societies. She is determined to break out of her passive streak and make a name for herself, but doesn’t know where to begin or what she wants to do with her future. Grayson, a senior, was kicked out of the all-boys private school just last spring for being a “term-paper-pimp,” his future at an elite college stripped and athletic skills kicked to the curb. He’s determined to set his life straight, to become a better person, but isn’t sure how to leave his past behind. But on the night Grayson attends a wedding and chokes on finger food, Wren swoops in to help, and their lives change forever.

  The Promise of Amazing is a typical good-girl-meets-bad-boy young adult novel, but without the cheesy lines or trashy love scenes or beachy setting. The story takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the time when seniors are getting accepted into college and juniors are told their dream schools are out of reach. While Grayson is painted as a “bad boy,” he’s not the pot-smoking, heavy-drinking, sexed-up kind of guy in most YA novels. He does, however, commit crimes, is wicked intelligent and slipped up once — that’s how his term-paper matching-making business fell through — and, if a college were to discover such things, he’d be set for life working the cashier line at a grocery store. His life was on the fast-track to failure due to all his short-cuts, but once he was caught, his cocky behavior ended. And Wren truly is average. Not in personality, but she is such a relatable character for all decent girls out there: she works, she tries hard in class, she has good friends and a nice family, but she’s not quite up to par to be qualified for all these big societies high school says helps students get into college. I felt a kinship to her.

  The drama in the book is never between Grayson and Wren, per se, but Grayson’s friends trying to bring him back into his business and darker past. They keep attempting to break through the relationship, and it’s up to Grayson to end those connections and that part of his life. These are all aspects of a coming-of-age novel, and life in general: cut out the toxic people in your life in order to better yourself. Through these events, Wren develops courage and a strong voice. You begin to hope her life will turn around for the better as well.

  It’s a nice light read, especially around the holidays. If you’re in for feeling nostalgic about your first high school relationship, your first heart-warming experiences, this book is the ticket. The Promise of Amazing is sweet, with well-rounded characters to root for and true-to-life high school experiences.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from Balzer + Bray for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 0 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Letters from Skye” by Jessica Brockmole

  Posted at 9:13 pm by Laura, on November 4, 2013

  Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole 

  Publisher: Ballantine Books
  Published: July 2013
  Genre: historical fiction, WWI / WWII fiction
  ISBN: 9780345542601
  Goodreads: 3.94
  Rating: ★★★★★

  March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.

  June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

  When Margaret Dunn’s mother, Elspeth, up and leaves Edinburgh in June 1940 after a series of bombs, Margaret is left with only one clue as to her whereabouts and intentions: a letter written to “Sue” from “Davey” in 1914. As Margaret searches for her mother’s past, Elspeth is searching for David Graham, an American she corresponded without before and throughout the First World War. Told entirely through letters, these women face two very different wartime atmospheres, and are determined to uncover the past that may heal the future.

  The whole concept of a book written entirely in letters fascinated me. There’s something antiquated about it, something charming, and it brought me back to a time when a response from a loved one was never instantaneous. People were open and emotional and detailed in their letters — there were few forms of communication to truly and accurately keep up with friends and family. When David mailed an obscure Scottish poet, he didn’t expect a response — and she didn’t expect a letter from anyone outside of Skye or Scotland, for that matter. Their surprises, witty quips, slow exposure of their true feelings, and later their deep love and devotion through one another, all grip you and hold you from the first page to the last.

  Another technique I really liked was Margaret’s discovery of other aspects of Elspeth’s life that Elspeth would either never mention in the letters or it would be mentioned later by Elspeth or David. For example, Elspeth and David indirectly refer to an incident between David and her brother Finlay, but it’s Finlay who writes a letter to Margaret explaining what happened. Or, in another instance, Margaret finds a letter that was never sent, which then changes the course of the book.

  Like reading a friend’s diary, this book is deeply emotional, incredibly moving, and impossible to put down.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 2 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: history, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Secret Daughter of the Tsar” by Jennifer Laam (ARC)

  Posted at 8:21 am by Laura, on October 14, 2013

  The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam 

  Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
  Publishing Date: October 22, 2013
  Genre: historical fiction
  ISBN: 9781250040916
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★
  

  Veronica is an aspiring historian living in present-day Los Angeles when she meets a mysterious man who may be heir to the Russian throne. As she sets about investigating the legitimacy of his claim through a winding path of romance and deception, the ghosts of her own past begin to haunt her. Lena, a servant in the imperial Russian court of 1902, is approached by the desperate Empress Alexandra.  After conceiving four daughters, the Empress is determined to sire a son and believes Lena can help her. Once elevated to the Romanov’s treacherous inner circle, Lena finds herself under the watchful eye of the meddling Dowager Empress Marie. Charlotte, a former ballerina living in World War II occupied Paris, receives a surprise visit from a German officer. Determined to protect her son from the Nazis, Charlotte escapes the city, but not before learning that the officer’s interest in her stems from his longstanding obsession with the fate of the Russian monarchy.

  Lena, a servant in the royal household and favorite of Empress Alexandra, is asked to help Alexandra conceive a boy after giving birth to four daughters. But in 1920, when Alexandra is delirious from the medication given during labor, Dowager Empress Marie threatens Lena and strikes a bargain to help save the Russian monarchy. Fast forward to WWII occupied Paris as Charlotte flees with her ex-husband and son Laurent to Spain to escape the Germans. Fast forward to the present day, where Veronica is working on her book for tenure and failing miserably. But suddenly a Russian man named Michael seems to be the key to her future with the Romanov family.

  I was a little skeptical about reading a book with three POVs, as they can sometimes be confusing, sloppy, and muddle. Laam, however, was very consistent with her chapters, clearly marked the years and locations, and each piece of the puzzle started to fit together perfectly. This book was in no way confusing with the multiple perspectives.

  The story was enjoyable and kept my attention. It was like a journey across Europe and time, an adventure across the generations. About halfway through the novel, though, when Veronica is visiting New York and meets another claimant to the Russian throne, the circumstances seemed elevated to ludicrous proportions. The other portions of the book, with Lena and Charlotte, maintained reality at least. But after Veronica’s visit to New York, the link between the three women was obvious. I raced to the end just to see how exactly they each reacted to their situations.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book for review.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 2 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, genre: history, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Last Enchantments” by Charles Finch (ARC)

  Posted at 8:32 am by Laura, on September 23, 2013

  The Last Enchantments by Charles Finch 

  Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
  Publishing Date: January 2014
  Genre: fiction
  ISBN: 9781250018717
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★★

  After graduating from Yale, William Baker, scion of an old line patrician family, goes to work in presidential politics.  But when the campaign into which he’s poured his heart ends in disappointment, he decides to leave New York behind, along with the devoted, ambitious, and well-connected woman he’s been in love with for the last four years.

  Will expects nothing more than a year off before resuming the comfortable life he’s always known, but he’s soon caught up in a whirlwind of unexpected friendships and romantic entanglements that threaten his safe plans. As he explores the heady social world of Oxford,  he becomes fast friends with Tom, his snobbish but affable flat mate;  Anil, an Indian economist with a deep love for gangster rap; Anneliese, a German historian obsessed with photography; and Timmo, whose chief ambition is to become a reality television star. What he’s least prepared for is Sophie, a witty, beautiful and enigmatic woman who makes him question everything he knows about himself.

  William Baker decides to pack his bags and head to Oxford to study literature for a year. His career in political campaigns has slowed and he feels like he’s stuck in a rut. Leaving behind NYC, job opportunities, a long-time girlfriend, Will looks forward to his adventure in England and putting off “real life” for the time being. As the weeks progress in school, he befriends posh Tom, adorable Anil, talented Anneliese, studious Ella, driven Peter, and the ever elusive Sophie. His journey into self-discovery, and navigating the many forms of love, is deeply moving and incredibly touching.

  I was originally drawn to this book because of the Oxford setting. I didn’t expect to like Will — the stereotype I have in my head of “poor little rich boy” is not a positive one — but little by little I began to see myself in him, my friends in him and his friends, our experiences quite similar. Will feels lost in the “adult world” and finds comfort in academia. Unsure of his future, he makes wild decisions to put off the inevitable. There are so many twenty-somethings out there who feel just the same: the desire to grow up and become someone, while at the same time terrified, unsure, and fearing failure.

  Will is conflicted throughout the book when it comes to romance. Every type of love is presented: the enduring love with a long-time flame, passion and obsession with someone new and out-of-reach, and lust after a friend. There is no clear-cut relationship, which is actually quite refreshing in a book because it’s true to life. Emotions, love especially, never have logical explanations.

  Everything you would expect from a graduate student is in this book: from studying in libraries, pubs, and cafes to parties in clubs, from sleeping with a friend to lazy walks in the park. There’s no sugar-coating or brushing over facts. It’s plain truth about one young man’s journey, all the mistakes and accomplishments, all the experiences, to the path of his future. It’s beautiful.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from St. Martin’s Press for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 1 Comment | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Outside” by Laura Bickle

  Posted at 9:15 am by Laura, on September 13, 2013

  The Outside by Laura Bickle 

  Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
  Published: September 2013
  Genre: young adult, horror, paranormal
  ISBN: 9780544000131
  Goodreads: 4.05
  Rating: ★★★★★

  After a plague of vampires is unleashed in the world, Katie is kicked out of her Amish community for her refusal to adhere to the new rules of survival. Now in exile, she enters an outside world of unspeakable violence with only her two “English” friends and a horse by her side. Together they seek answers and other survivors—but each sunset brings the threat of vampire attack, and each sunrise the threat of starvation.

  And yet through this darkness come the shining ones: luminescent men and women with the power to deflect vampires and survive the night. But can these new people be trusted, and are they even people at all?

  Katie, the Englisher Alex, and Englisher Ginger, are thrown out of Katie’s Amish community and placed under the Bann. The only way they can survive in the wastelands thronging with vampires is to find untainted holy ground, kill, or use holy relics and symbols to deflect attacks. As they journey north with a horse and a wolf, Katie struggles with her faith, the concept of humanity, and the power of God’s forgiveness as she commits every sin to survive. When she’s confronted with a scientific “cure,” she must choose her battles: to take the cure and become less human in the eyes of God, or live a life abandoned and on the run.

  Just as horrifying and gripping as The Hallowed Ones, this book promises everything and more for this struggle for humanity. The landscape is hauntingly bare, the night is filled with anxiety, and the day is filled with worries over food, sleep, and survival. Every abandoned home and store is examined thoroughly before entering, in hopes the food hasn’t spoiled, the home is warm, and the vampires have not created a nest. Every human is looked upon with caution, and even holy ground is considered unsafe.

  Katie’s internal struggles were absolutely fascinating to read. She’s confronted with all sorts of issues while she fights to survive Outside. First, there’s violence. Although it is in the name of self-defense, she struggles justifying it when her Amish faith says she must turn the other cheek. Second, there’s theft and vanity. She and Alex constantly steal from abandoned stores and homes, and she has to shed her Amish clothes for English ones. There are other issues, such as pride and greed, that she struggles with in her faith. Katie moves further and further away from her upbringing, and it distresses her immensely. Each move she makes, she gave careful thought, and frequently asks God for forgiveness for her transgressions.

  Alex and Katie’s love was beautiful. It’s not the all-consuming passion so often read about in young adult novels. Alex respects her, seeks her opinion on matters and treats her like an equal. Katie loves his commitment, his steady presence. All they need is a look, a hand to hold, a piece of food to share. Their bond was peppered with tenderness I have not read in ages. And I think that’s what makes this book great overall: it is the end of the world, a fight for survival, and the time on the run is spent treasuring every moment, the good and bad.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, books, genre: horror, genre: paranormal, genre: post apocalyptic, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Cruel Beauty” by Rosamund Hodge (ARC)

  Posted at 9:27 am by Laura, on September 8, 2013

  Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge 

  Publisher: Balzer + Bray
  Publishing Date: January 2014
  Genre: young adult, fantasy, science fiction, mythology
  ISBN: 9780062224736
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★

  Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

  With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

  But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

  Nyx’s purpose in life was decided before birth: destroy the Good Lord and free her people from him and his demons. She’s trained to find the hearts of the four elements and bind them, for no mortal weapon will kill the demon king. But once she’s trapped in his ever-changing castle, she begins to have doubts about her task, and wonders who, exactly, is the one at fault for her kingdom’s misfortunes.

  An interesting retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty will be one of those books readers will either love to pieces or, like me, find it to be too much. While it’s understandable for Nyx to be an angry, revengeful sort of character — destined for a life she did not choose — she comes across as stubbornly annoying. The anger she feels to her family seems unjustified, apart from her father, and the impulsive and rather silly things she does against Ignifex are childish and not at all calculating like her killer instincts would seem.

  I also had a difficult time understanding the world of this story. It combines mythology and fantasy and science fiction so much so that I lost track of what was considered a tale and what was considered real and factual for this world. It also felt like there were so many powers in this world, there was no limit. Every power needs a limitation.

  This book was not for me, although I wish it was. I simply could not get into it.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from Balzer + Bray for review. 

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 4 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: fantasy, genre: sci-fi, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Boy on the Bridge” by Natalie Standiford

  Posted at 8:03 am by Laura, on September 5, 2013

  The Boy on the Bridge by Natalie Standiford 

  Publisher: Scholastic
  Published: July 2013
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780545334815
  Goodreads: 3.4
  Rating: ★★★.5

  Laura Reid goes to Leningrad for a semester abroad as Cold War paranoia is peaking in 1982. She meets a young Russian artist named Alexei and soon, with Alexei as her guide, Laura immerses herself in the real Russia–a crazy world of wild parties, black-market books and music, and smuggled letters to dissidents. She must keep the relationship secret; associating with Americans is dangerous for Alexei, and if caught, Laura could be sent home and Alexei put under surveillance or worse. At the same time, she’s been warned that Soviets often latch onto Americans in hopes of marrying them and thus escaping to the United States. But she knows Alexei loves her. Right?

  Nineteen-year-old Laura Reid has always been fascinated with Russian language and culture. Russia was the country of poetry, passion, soul, violence, and despair. She studied Russian language in high school and now in college she finally has the chance to spend a semester in Leningrad and truly immerse herself in the culture in the middle of the Cold War. Homesick after two weeks and desperate to not be paranoid about the KGB, Laura begins to wonder if this opportunity was a waste. It all changes when she meets Alexei after he prevents gypsy women from snatching her wallet. His attentions seem honest, but Laura can’t help but wonder if he’s only friendly because she’s American and wants an easy ticket out of the USSR.

  My interest in this book is three-fold. First, I am my mother’s daughter, and have some strange fascination with Cold War Russia. Second, I have been to Russia, back in 2004 when I was a young teenager. I remember the very cool summer weather, glittering palaces and museums, carbonated water, strange chicken meals and beet salad, markets, and gypsy children playing accordions. In a way, I was curious to see if this Laura saw the same things I did, and viewed them the way I did: dirt poor people living among the lavish buildings, terrible food yet beautiful culture. Third, this book simply looks like a nice light read, a little love story to warm the heart.

  The third reason for my interest crashed. Laura is paranoid just like the Russians at the beginning of the book, and she does view Moscow and St. Petersburg similarly. And while this is a love story, it’s one that’s also filled with doubts and does not quite leave the heart filled with warmth and joy. Alexei, nicknamed Alyosha, is fascinated by American culture and introduces Laura to his friends. Any time Laura is with him, she believes they are in love. He means every word he says, and every interaction is filled with a natural love. Like Laura, you fall in love with Alexei when you’re with him, and have your doubts when you’re away. Does he truly love her? Or does he just want to marry her and get out of the country? And no matter which one is true, how could Laura bear it if Alexei was discovered and arrested by the KGB?

  The author could have used more descriptions, more ways to make the reader both trust and distrust Alexei, more ways the readers could love St. Petersburg while also fear it. Albeit through the most simple of sentences, it’s a heartbreaking story filled with fear and hope, love and doubt. Every page is filled with passion and emotion.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, books, genre: history, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Longbourn” by Jo Baker (ARC)

  Posted at 10:00 am by Laura, on September 4, 2013

  Longbourn by Jo Baker 

  Publisher: Random House
  Publishing Date: October 8, 2013
  Genre: historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780345813602
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★

  A brilliantly imagined, irresistible below-stairs answer to Pride and Prejudice: a story of the romance, intrigue and drama among the servants of the Bennet household, a triumphant tale of defying society’s expectations, and an illuminating glimpse of working-class lives in Regency England.

  Our heroine is Sarah, an orphaned housemaid beginning to chafe against the boundaries of her class. When the militia marches into town, a new footman arrives under mysterious circumstances, and Sarah finds herself the object of the attentions of an ambitious young former slave working at neighboring Netherfield Hall, the carefully choreographed world downstairs at Longbourn threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, up-ended. From the stern but soft-hearted housekeeper to the starry-eyed kitchen maid, these new characters come vividly to life in this already beloved world.

  Orphaned housemaid Sarah mends, washes, cleans, and cooks for the Bennet household, with the help of little Polly, Mrs Hill, and Mr Hill. Life is simply a never-ending list of chores for Sarah till a mysterious new footman catches her attention. Occupied with thoughts of his origins and distracted by Bingley’s servant, Sarah and the rest of the downstairs household is turned upside down as each Bennet daughter is exposed to society’s forms of acceptable love.

  I never knew I needed to read the downstairs version of Pride & Prejudice till I read this book. It’s an absolutely fascinating account of what life was truly like in Regency England for the lower classes. How a pig not only provides meat but also soap. How the chamber pots must be taken out daily, the ways people bathed and cleaned laundry and interacted with one another. Though Sarah is only a maid, she too must abide by society’s rules and uphold the Bennet family honor. She cannot fool around or behave mischievously; it would reflect poorly on the family.

  The reader is not only given a glimpse of Sarah, but also of Mrs Hill, Mrs Bennet’s maid. We learn her history and her connections to Mr Bennet and the new footman James. Mr Collins is explored outside of Elizabeth’s painful judgment, and James’s history with the militia gives the reader further clues to Wickham’s misdemeanors. The reader is exposed to life before, during, and after the original book, and I loved reading the decisions the characters make and their motivations for their actions. Downstairs intermingles with upstairs so fluidly it was as if I was still reading the original classic.

  Thank you, Random House, for providing this book for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 2 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: classics, genre: fiction, genre: history, review

• Book Review: “Deception” by C.J. Redwine

  Posted at 12:36 pm by Laura, on September 3, 2013

  Deception by C.J. Redwine 

  Publisher: Balzer + Bbray
  Published: August 2013
  Genre: young adult, dystopian, post-apocalyptic
  ISBN: 9780062117205
  Goodreads: 4.25
  Rating: ★★★★★

  Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander’s whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father’s death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it’s up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington’s army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.

  But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one.

  After the fire that destroyed Baalboden, Logan and Rachel do their best to lead, train, and care for the 150 survivors. The only way to stay out of the Commander’s grasp, Rowansmark’s eyes, and Carrington’s army is to flee through the Wasteland to Lankenshire, a scholarly city-state that may be able to help Logan recreate the device that controls the Cursed One. But the travels prove harsh, and Rachel’s grief and sanity is tried and tested. Someone within their band of travelers is a killer.

  I loved how Redwine goes into depth to explain the territory and history of the Wastelands. The reader finally gets a glimpse of just how much time has passed since the Cursed One burst through the earth. Some of the weary Baalboden travelers remember their childhood before the city-states, and comment on the city-scapes, structures, and a Ferris wheel they pass. It’s rather eerie, just how close to modern day this takes place. I also found the differences between each city-state fascinating. Rowansmark is technologically advanced, Carrington runs like a military state, Baalboden was uneducated and backward, and Lankenshire is very knowledgeable, advanced, and aware of the history of the city-states. So neat, seeing how the separation of the survivors turned out vastly different cultures.

  The character development improved ten-fold, as well. Logan breaks out of his introverted shell and leads the best way he knows how: by coming up with as many intelligent plans and back-up plans as possible. Rachel, understandably, is filled with grief and vengeance, and appears to have PTSD triggered at the sight of blood. She struggles to maintain a strong facade, but it takes Quinn’s wisdom to help her come to terms with her emotions.

  As far as the traitor in the camp, I found the person to be an obvious one — but their intentions and purpose was a complete surprise. The whole journey in this trilogy takes a major turn in the final 100 pages, and I am on the edge of my seat to see what Redwine brings next!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 3 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: dystopian, genre: fantasy, genre: post apocalyptic, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

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• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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