Category: Literary Criticism

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Gentleman’s Gambit (A League of Extraordinary Women #4) by Evie Dunmore

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Gentleman’s Gambit (A League of Extraordinary Women #4) by Evie Dunmore

This book was on my pre-order for months. Evie Dunmore has crafted such a unique world in her books and with the ‘votes for women suffragette movement’ as a historical backdrop. I was fully expecting to enjoy this book and say good bye to the series and characters of this series as this is the last installment, but when I started reading it, I found it wasn’t holding my interest in the way that I had hoped.

In past years, I would have kept reading—ride or die—to complete the book. But in recent years I have been trying to be more intentional with my reading. There are some books where I am like ‘ok this is garbage and I am not into it’ so I pull a DNF and move on, and then there are some books where I am not enjoying it but I am invested enough to keep going to say that I finished it. This year I decided that if I am not enjoying a book, I am just going to set it aside and more on and that’s sort of what happened with this one.

I will get into the reasons why this book wasn’t holding my interest shortly, but I want to point out that even though this book wasn’t a favorite of mine, the series as a whole is great and I recommend it wholeheartedly! While this was a DNF for me, I had a hard time decided if it was just the timing or if it was the book itself. I know that lately I have had a lot going on and maybe it just didn’t hold my attention because I had other things going on, or maybe it was in fact just the book. I plan on setting is aside and maybe some day down the road I will try it again but for now it was a DNF for me.

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Review: The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green

Whenever I am looking at books for potential review, one of the first things I check out is the author. Is it someone I have read before? Seen around the bogging world? Maybe it’s someone I had on my TBR or it could be a new author that sounds interesting. In this case, Amy Lynn Green is a new to me author. I didn’t recognize any of her books nor had I heard any buzz for her, but sometimes that in of itself is a draw! Sometimes I want the authors that fly under the radar since buzz doesn’t always mean ‘must read’. That’s how I felt about this one, I wanted a new to my author so I could enjoy the book without pretense.

Besides being a new to me author, the other draw for this book was the setting. So many WWII books are set in England or France but this book is set in North Africa and instantly I felt compelled to read it! The WWII historical fiction market can be so saturated and it’s hard to distinguish a story and make it stand out, but changing the location is one such way and in this case I was all about it. The description and setting sold me on this book and since it was one of my first historical fiction novels of the year, I had high expectations.

Early reviewers raved about this book, and many reviewers read other books by Green. I agree with many of the reviews, this was a stunning book in many regards and while I haven’t read anything by this author before, I can see why other reviews loved her books so much! She has a great storytelling style and she pays attention to historical details. I would certainly be open to reading other books by her in the future!

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Review: Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) by Rebecca Yarros

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) by Rebecca Yarros

By about half way through Fourth Wing, I had already downloaded book two, Iron Flame. I instinctively knew that I would need the second book immediately following Fourth Wing and I was absolutely not wrong. I was thrilled when we got snow/iced in for almost a week too so that I could spend all my snow days reading! I was so happy the both myself and husband were home from school along with our seven year old. My husband and son thankfully watched movies while I was able to curl up on the couch and read this book. I finished it in about two days which is saying something considering this book is over 600 pages long. I could have read it in one day I think but I did take a few more breaks with this one than I expected to. But still—-record reading time for me.

I am sure you are well aware, this book is all over the blogosphere and reading recommendation lists. I have also seen multiple posts and reviews claiming to be ‘ruined’, ‘gutted’ and simply ‘not ok’ once they completed this book. So naturally I was expecting to be all of those things as well. In fact I was ready to feel all the things with this book……until I didn’t. Don’t get me wrong this was still a good book and like many other fans, I am anxiously waiting for the next book but I don’t know that I feel ruined or ‘not ok’ after finishing it. It was good, but I was expecting to feel more.

With a second book, it’s always difficult to recapture the same magic of the first book. It’s almost always the ‘necessary book’ to bridge the early lot points and characters to the larger narrative and growth. And I think this book did that very well, it certainly provided a bridge and new characters to keep things interesting, but I didn’t feel the same investment in this book as I did with the first for a couple of reasons. Don’t mistake me, this was absolutely a fie star read, but it wasn’t without issues—-mainly it was too long.

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The Lilly of Legate Hill (Belles of London #3) by Mimi Matthews

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on The Lilly of Legate Hill (Belles of London #3) by Mimi Matthews

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I have started scaling back on a lot of my reviews for publishers etc quite a bit for 2024. This will not always be the case, but for now I need to juggle family, work, and hobbies so for now I am scaling back. But there are a few authors that I will always make room for in my review calendar. One of those is Mimi Matthews. She is one of my favorite historical romance writers and I have read all of her books.

For me, she has been one of those authors who went overlooked by bigger publishing houses and I couldn’t understand why—–I am so gad to see that Berkley got wise to her writing and signed her and brought to life her Belles of London series! I love Matthews books and always close the book with a smile on my face and this book left me eager for the next book in this series. The last book promises to loop in her other series, Parish Orphans of Devon, which makes my heart so happy because that series is equally intriguing and swoon worthy.

This series (as well as Matthews others) are ones that I frequently recommend to those looking to satisfy their Bridgerton cravings, however I do let them know that Matthews writes more sweet romances than bodice rippers, but that said her books have intertwined characters/books/plots without having to be read in order and you get to revisit familiar characters in new settings, plus no one describes wardrobes like Matthews! I love reading about the clothes and fashion, plus Matthews history details are top shelf.

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Review: A Winter by the Sea (On Devonshire Shores #2) by Julie Klassen

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: A Winter by the Sea (On Devonshire Shores #2) by Julie Klassen

I featured this book when the cover reveal came out and since then I have been so excited to read this one! I read the first book in the series last year and really enjoyed it and couldn’t wait for the next installment in the series. Not to mention I am a big fan of Julie Klassen so naturally I had this one on my radar for months prior to its release! And honestly how could you not get excited about this book when you see the cover??? The Cover is stunning and I just knew it would be a good that would grab my attention!

Julia Klassen is a tried and proven author for me. She has written so many historical fiction books that have many elements that will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Some of her books have a bit of a Gothic feel while others have more romance or some have more of a friendship/family feel to them. There are also religious components but for me the religion doesn’t overshadow the story or become preachy.

Whenever I see a new book by Klassen, I rarely hesitate to snatch it up. She is a consistently good writer and I almost always enjoy her books and that is not something I can say about every author I read so I don’t take that statement lightly! If you are looking for a solid historical fiction author then you don’t want to miss Klassen, she is a delight to read!

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