Tag: YA

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

Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1) by Kerri Maniscalco

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1) by Kerri Maniscalco

Having a library card is the best thing in the world. After seeing this book on a few Instagram pages, I was lured in by the cover and title.

I wasn’t really sure I wanted to buy it though so I put a hold on it at my local library. After waiting three weeks for it to be returned, I was finally able to pick it up!

This is one of those times that I am so thankful for library cards.

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world (summary from Goodreads).
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Books, Reading

Excerpt and Special Feature: BECOMING BONNIE by Jenni L Walsh

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From debut historical novelist Jenni L. Walsh comes the untold story of how wholesome Bonnelyn Parker became half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde duo.

The summer of 1927 might be the height of the Roaring Twenties, but Bonnelyn Parker is more likely to belt out a church hymn than sling drinks at an illicit juice joint. She’s a sharp girl with plans to overcome her family’s poverty, provide for herself, and maybe someday marry her boyfriend, Roy Thornton. But when Roy springs a proposal on her and financial woes jeopardize her ambitions, Bonnelyn finds salvation in an unlikely place: Dallas’s newest speakeasy, Doc’s.

Living the life of a moll at night, Bonnie remains a wholesome girl by day, engaged to Roy, attending school and working toward a steady future. When Roy discovers her secret life, and embraces it—perhaps too much, especially when it comes to booze and gambling—Bonnie tries to make the pieces fit. Maybe she can have it all: the American Dream, the husband, and the intoxicating allure of jazz music. What she doesn’t know is that her life—like her country—is headed for a crash.

She’s about to meet Clyde Barrow.

Few details are known about Bonnie’s life prior to meeting her infamous partner. In Becoming Bonnie, Jenni L. Walsh shows a young woman promised the American dream and given the Great Depression, and offers a compelling account of why she fell so hard for a convicted felon—and turned to crime herself.

Becoming Bonnie excerpt

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Excerpt and Special Feature: THE MOURNING RING by Sarah Parke

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The Mourning Ring
by Sarah Parke

Publication Date: October 10, 2016
CreateSpace
eBook & Paperback; 350 Pages

Genre: Young Adult/Historical Fantasy

 

 

READ AN EXCERPT.

Sixteen-year-old Charlotte Bronte lives to tell stories. She longs to improve her fortunes through her writing. Charlotte’s father expects her to leave behind her childish fantasies in order to set an example for her three younger siblings.

But the Bronte children hold a secret in their veins—a smidgen of fairy blood that can bring their words to life.

When Charlotte discovers that the characters from their childish stories exist in an alternate world called Glass Town, she jumps at the opportunity to be the heroine of her own tale.

The city of Angria teeters on the brink of civil war and Charlotte and her siblings must use their magic and their wits to save its people from a tyrant with magic abilities. But entering the fictional world means forfeiting control of their own creations. If they fail, the characters they have come to know and love will be destroyed.

Charlotte is determined to save the city and characters she loves, but when the line between creator and character becomes blurred, will she choose her fantasy or her family?

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback) | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

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

Review: Crystal Storm (Falling Kingdoms #5) by Morgan Rhodes

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Crystal Storm (Falling Kingdoms #5) by Morgan Rhodes

Yet another book that I pre-ordered and waited anxiously for MONTHS for it to be released. When I started this series, I was not terribly impressed with the first book in the series, but I wasn’t entirely ready to abandon the series all together either.

Something kept me reading the series and as the series developed, so did the writing and the plots. I have really enjoyed the subsequent books and read them all in rapid succession. I pre ordered the fourth book and read it rather quickly and it left a few cliff hangers so I was ready for the next book almost immediately.

Then of course I had a baby so I was disappointed that I couldn’t start reading this one when it came out in Dec, but in a way I am glad I waited to start this one. There were a lot of things that I liked about it and a lot of things that just weren’t working for me.

Granted, I will admit that I liked this one more than the fourth book, I didn’t really start enjoying it or being really invested in it until the book was more than half over.

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

Review: The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3) by Mary E. Pearson

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3) by Mary E. Pearson

I had this book on pre-order for quite some time….it just so happened that it was released when I was in labor so I missed out on starting it right away.

In all the craziness that comes with a baby and other reviews, this book kind of got buried in my to be read list and then one day I remembered that I had it and was super excited to start reading it.

I loved the first two books and was eager to see what the conclusion would be like since the last book left things really up in the air and ended on a climatic note.

Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.

With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.

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