Literary Criticism
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Review: Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia
There is only one word to describe Debra Anastasia’s novel Poughkeepsie…..elegant. I feel absolutely privileged to review this novel, the cover alone is completely breathtaking and haunting…I couldn’t help but say yes to a review. When I first read the summary, I was not sure that this novel was entirely in my general review genre and I was not sure how the story would fit together as it sounded abstract. I am normally not a huge fan of contempo lit, let alone contempo romance, I feel like contempo lit generally leaves the reader feeling disturbed. Many of the characteristics of contempo lit are feelings of hopelessness, questioning a world that…
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Review: The Deception of the Emerald Ring (Pink Carnation #3) by Lauren Willig
Letty Alsworthy has an appalling nasty habit of being whisked way by seemingly innocent carriages! What was it about her that made everyone within grabbing distance want to and act upon the sudden urge to toss her an anything with wheels, one would be abductor in particular–Lord Geoffrey Pinchingdale Snipe. In Lauren Willig’s latest Pink Carnation romantic spy thriller series, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Letty Alsworthy finds herself in a precarious situation…her sister Mary is secretly engaged to Lord Pinchingdale and plotting to elope with him. Letty discovers the plot moments before Mary literally flies out the window right along with her reputation….Letty manages to get to Lord Pinchingdale’s…
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Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare
1, 2, 3 ACTION! From the first page of Cassandra Clare’s thrilling YA series, The Mortal Instruments, the second book of the series, City of Ashes–readers can expect one thing…ACTION. So much happens in this book, while a lot happened in City of Bones, I felt like the first book in the series was more about foundation laying than this second book…in this book things happen at an alarming pace! Clary and her shadowhunter friends embark on a dangerous adventure. Having narrowly escaped the clutches of the evil (and rogue shadowhunter), Valentine in Book I, the shadowhunters know it is only a matter of time before Valentine resurfaces. Suddenly, an alarming number of…
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Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare
Being a teenager is hard enough without the added stress of suddenly being able to see demons and other downworlders. In Cassandra Clare’s book, City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1), Clarissa ‘Clary’ Frey has gone from being completely oblivious of the shadow world to suddenly being very much aware of demons, downworlders, and shawdowhunters. Clary and her best friend Simon are at a club in NYC when Clary witnesses three other teens kill a boy–well Clary thought he was a boy but really he was a demon–the three other teens are shawdowhunters that only she can see. When Clary gets home that night, she is still stunned by what she…
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Review: Letters In Cardboard Boxes by Abby Slovin
How do you want to be remembered? How would others see you? How would you see yourself? What if you didn’t remember who you were? That is precisely what happens in Abby Slovin’s novel Letters in Cardboard Boxes. Parker’s beloved grandma has suddenly become a stranger to her….confused and rapidly declining, Parker must face an alarming reality: her eccentric, loving grandmother is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Throughout her life Parker has come to rely on her grandma. While her parents have all but abandoned her, Parker has felt awfully alone with no one to shield her but her grandma. Parker’s grandma helps her cope with the abandonment of her parents…
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Review: The Masque of the Black Tulip (Pink Carnation #2) by Lauren Willig
If the Pink Carnation left you feeling a little wilted and longing to drink in the next flowery caped crusader….look no further, Lauren Willig’s The Masque of the Black Tulip, is sure to quench any lingering thirst readers had! Ravishing and bewitching, the whole Regency era upper-class turned spies with cute horticultural names thing is a force to be reckoned with…these books are simply amazing. I am reading them as part of the Regency & Victorian Reads Challenge over at the Royal Review’s blog. As I was about thirty or so pages out from finishing the first book, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, I had to stop myself,…
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Review: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Pink Carnation #1) by Lauren Willig
I feel like I just entered the most interesting florist shop in London. I am surrounded by flowers….the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Purple Gentian, and of course the Pink Carnation….but wait I’m in a book! What the deuce are all these flowers doing in a book?? Granted…it’s decidedly less fragrant in the book than in a florist shop but still–what the deuce is going on here? Oh wait….I am reading Lauren Willig’s novel The Secret History of the Pink Carnation! Pink Carnation is just the beginning of the flowery Regency era series. We begin with Amy, born in France she and her mother flee the French Revolution across the Channel to…
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Review: The Rebel Wife by Taylor M Polites
Saturated in rich, golden prose Taylor Polites’s novel, The Rebel Wife, oozes engrossing detail and with such a commanding voice/tone from the first page….I found it difficult to put down. The novel contains whispers of literary delight from beloved American classics such as Gone with the Wind and is told with a dark edge which echos William Faulkner. This book was listed on Goodreads as a giveaway ARC, and this was one of the novels I was most hoping to win. The cover is striking and elegant with blazing sunset and a dark, decaying house….the cover alone beckoned me to read it. I was over the moon when I won…
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The Lit Bitch has entered the 2012 Why Buy the Cow Reading Challenge
Challenge #5 has been entered! K now I’m reasonably sure this will be the last challenge for the year….I know I know I said that before but really and truly for this one!! I just couldn’t resist a super cute challenge button with a cow on it…..sorry I just COULDN’T! So I entered the Why Buy the Cow Reading Challenge hosted by The Unread Reader who is quickly becoming one of my fav book bloggers. Again…..as noted before over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting my entries for various challenges here as I sign up and I will also have a special page/section devoted to my entries which will have…
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The Lit Bitch has entered the 2012 Death by Gaslight Reading Challenge
Challenge #4 has been entered! This might (yes MIGHT) be the last challenge for the year….not sure yet though but as I am hosting two other reading challenges of my own (Outlander and Game of Thrones) it might be time to call it quits for the moment anyway but we aren’t quite into the new year yet so who knows I might have more challenge entries on the way 🙂 So here you have it, the Death by Gaslight Reading Challenge hosted by Simply Challenging who is quickly becoming one of my fav book bloggers, she is super ambitious when it comes to reading challenges hence the name LOL :).…