Literary Criticism
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Review: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess)
Be still my heart….finally someone who understands, finds humor in, and can articulate life’s little f-ed up moments that happen to us all…..well to some of us more than others! The Bloggess is known for her sardonic quick wit and dark situational humor. She compiled a list of “Things Most People Have Never Experiences of Could Have Ever Possibly Imagined, But That Totally Happened to Me” and woven these special little stories together creating a brilliant and hilarious novel. This is a difficult novel to review, mostly because it is the kind of book you just have to read to understand how truly awesome this book is. It is truly…
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Review: Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
The name of the game is deception. Real or fake? Truth or lie? This gritty war time novel takes us all over Europe on an adventure unraveling espionage and flushing out spies. The novel opens in pre-WWI Vienna where London based actor Lysander Rief is taking a ‘holiday’ to resolve a ‘personal issue’ with a local psychiatrist. Must of Lysander’s “treatment’ and “cure” involves the psychological term Parallelism. This concept plays a large role in the themes/plot of the novel and with it’s characters. At his first appointment with the doctor, Lysander meets the frazzled, yet beautiful, Hettie Bull. He is immediately drawn to her but, since he is engaged…
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Review: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Sinister monsters lurk in the endless darkness of the Shadow Fold….a condemned fragment within the land of Ravka. On the Fold, Alina Starkov and her army regiment (which includes her best friend, Mal) are attacked by these evil beasts. In the face of certain death and desperation, Alina reveals an ancient power that has been dormant inside her, which saves Mal’s life. But once she reveals what she is, others conspire to steal her power but one intends to foster it–the Darkling. The Darkling takes Alina under his wing, seducing her with promises of power and peace. Alina is captivated by him, like calls to like.
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Review: Shades of Milk and Honey (Shades of Milk and Honey #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal
Woven intricately out of the ether, Mary Robinette Kowal creates and exhilarating new world of enchantment that will please Jane Austen fans and illusionist fiction fans alike. In the Regency era, Dorchester countryside, Jane and Melody Ellsworth are as opposite as any two sisters can be. While Melody is beautiful and charming, Jane is plain and lacks the feminine charms to secure a husband. Almost a confirmed spinster, Jane possesses other talents that might make her appealing to the right man…..she is a glamourist. Well accomplished in the art of glamour, Jane captures the imagination of all that she meets….wow people with her skills, but it is Melody the eligible bachelors are…
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Review: Wizard’s First Rule (Sword of Truth #1) by Terry Goodkind
Wizard’s first rule: people are stupid. Richard Cypher is brooding over the murder of his father in the woods surrounding his house when he glimpses a woman blazing quite the trail behind her. Intrigued, Richard starts following her. What he finds is an unexpected ambush meant to catch the lovely women, Kahlan, unaware. On instinct Richard feels it is his duty to save her from the ambush and protect her. There is no denying the confidence radiating from Kahlan. Though she is beautiful, Richard recognizes she is much more than just that. He is drawn to her strength…she is mesmerizing. He would love nothing move than to save her and…
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Review: Crushed Seraphim by Debra Anastasia
The Devil made me read it! The Devil, AKA: Satan Jack, guards the gates of hell, admitting all the evil this world has to give. While Satan Jack sucks down cigarettes and souls, Seraph Emma is being tossed out of Heaven. Emma is sent as a Christmas Angel to the lost, self-loathing vampire, Jason, in hopes of redeeming his soul. The task seems impossible but soon the vampire begins to come around and have faith. In Heaven, a rogue angel (Everett) partners with the Devil to trap God in Hell leaving himself in charge of Heaven. With God trapped, Everett begins tossing al the seraphim out of Heaven and unleashing unthinkable…
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Review: Full Dark House (Bryant and May #1) by Christopher Fowler
Modern day London is rocked by a bombing, killing a senior police detective. A detective that happens to be head of the special unit of the force: The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU). Arthur Bryant was working late on an old case for his memoirs on a Sunday when the bomb exploded. Ironically he survived the Blitz of the 1940’s only to be blown up in his office decades later. His partner and fellow head of the PCU, John May, can’t help but wonder if the modern day bombing is somehow linked to their first case together at PCU back in 1940. Now in his 80’s May must try to find…
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Review: The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R. by Carole DeSanti
With a lush, enticing cover The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R. by Carole DeSanti can’t help but catch the eye. The cover conjures images of a romantic work of historic fiction, filled with extravagance and richness. The novel does deliver in that way. France is ushering in a new era, set in the years immediately before the Franco-Prussian War era (1870’s), the book follows the life of Eugenie Rigault who was born in the foie gras country region of France. There she meets a gentleman that she falls in love with and gives him her heart and body. They soon make plans to move to Paris where the man promises to ‘take…
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Review: Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth
A single choice can transform you. One choice can destroy you. On Choosing Day, the people of five different factions make a choice that will change their lives. You can choose to leave your old faction behind in favor of a new one, but you will forever be bound to your new faction so it is not a choice one makes rashly. If you fail to meet the initiation for each faction, you become Factionless. Tris Prior is different. She is Divergent and her choices destroy her. Tris is in a dark place. Shas witnessed unspeakable horrors and is struggling to cope with the destruction and choices she has made.…
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Review: Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1) by E. L. James
I decided it was time to indulge to my inner curiosity about the wildly popular series Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. After all, what kind of book reviewer would I be if I didn’t at least glance at the best seller list once in a while? This book has been burning up the Amazon bestseller list and the NY Times….to mention I get asked a million times a week if I have read the book. From the other reviews I had read, it seems as though you either like the book or you hate it. There is no denying that writing a book like the controversial Fifty Shades…