 | Title: The Peculiars
Sexual Content: Rating:
Okay – A few good points, but with significant flaws. Library/swap/borrow if you want. |
Showing posts with label historical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label historical. Show all posts
26 May 2012
Posted by
Julia
at 5:00 AM
Labels: 2 bats, 3rd person, Amulet Books, historical, Maureen Doyle McQuerry, Review, Steampunk, YA
Labels: 2 bats, 3rd person, Amulet Books, historical, Maureen Doyle McQuerry, Review, Steampunk, YA
26 April 2012
 | Title: By the Blood of Heroes
Sexual Content: Rating:
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Posted by
Kristina
at 2:00 PM
Labels: 1st in series, 4 bats, Harper Voyager, historical, Joseph Nassise, Review, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy, zombies
Labels: 1st in series, 4 bats, Harper Voyager, historical, Joseph Nassise, Review, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy, zombies
10 September 2011
 | Title: Fateful
Sexual Content: Kissing. References to sex. Rating:
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
Description
In Fateful, eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, overbearing family she works for. Once the ship they’re sailing on reaches the United States, she’ll strike out on her own. Then she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets....
Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves are real and they’re stalking him—and now Tess, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.
Featuring the opulent backdrop of the Titanic, Fateful’s publication is poised to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the ship’s doomed maiden voyage. It is sure to be a hit among Titanic buffs and fans of paranormal romance alike.
Review
I saw James Cameron’s Titanic in the theaters at least two or three times, and after reading Claudia Gay’s FATEFUL, I kind of feel like I’ve just watched it again. There’s the first-class passenger aboard the ill-fated ship who falls for the third-class passenger, the girl being forced into an unwanted marriage, even a necklace. The big different between the two is that Leonardo DiCaprio never turned into a werewolf in the movie.
There are oodles of little historical details that bring this story to life. Titanic history buffs will no doubt pick up on more than I did, but it was clear that Gray did her research. And not just about the ship. The circumstances, mistreatment, and attitude towards servants was all captured in unflattering detail. I did have a few issues with what I considered to be more modern sensibilities with some of the characters, especially the female’s attitude towards sex, but apart from that, everything felt very authentic to the early twentieth century.
The one big liberty that Gray took was with the werewolves. I don’t believe they were on the original passenger's list, but their addition made this already infamous story all the more exciting and harrowing. It’s not enough to read about the freezing cold water flooding the ship and learn that there aren’t enough lifeboats, poor Tess has to go through all that with a werewolf after her. There are some interesting tweaks on the werewolf mythology too, but nothing too drastic.
Mostly FATED is a love story set against the back drop of one of America’s greatest tragedies. Werewolves aside, there are perhaps a few too many similarities between this story and the movie for it to feel as fresh as it could have, but the writing is subtle but captivating, and the romance believable. The ending is a little disappointing and difficult to comment on without revealing too much mostly due to a revelation that came out of nowhere. Overall, a solid read especially for werewolf and Titanic fans.
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Posted by
Abigail
at 6:30 AM
Labels: 1st person, Claudia Gray, historical, Paranormal YA, Review, standalone, Titanic, werewolves
Labels: 1st person, Claudia Gray, historical, Paranormal YA, Review, standalone, Titanic, werewolves
17 June 2011
 | Title: Haunting Violet
 Sexual Content: Kissing Rating:
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Description
Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose.
Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?
Review
HAUNTING VIOLET by Alyxandra Harvey is a huge departure from her popular YA vampires series, The Drake Chronicles. At it’s heart, it’s a murder mystery, but one embroiled with ghosts and romance and an atmospheric setting so vivid that I felt transported to mid 1800’s England for several engrossing hours.
The narrative voice in HAUNTING VIOLET was fantastic. Violet’s way of looking at the world and her situation was fascinating. Given her circumstances, a poor girl forced into a life of grifting and pickpocketing to help her charlatan Spiritualist mother con grieving people out of money, she easily could have become a character so deeply mired in self-pity that nothing could pull her out, or have been so bitter and waspish that readers wouldn’t care about her plight. But Violet was neither those things. She was capable and determined and felt deeply for those around her. If she could have found a way out of her life she would have taken it.
Speaking of Violet, I always begin historical novels with a giant fear: that the author will impose modern sensibilities and ideas into a time period were they don’t belong. Thankfully Harvey doesn’t do that. Apart from a few words and expressions that were a bit too modern, Violet is 100% believable as a product of her time. She fully understands the rules of the time period that she lives in and doesn’t rage against them in a way that would be completely foreign to a character from that time. Rather, like a Jane Austen heroine, she is smart enough to find ways to make those constraints work for her. I admired that about her immensely.
HAUNTING VIOLET is very different from The Drake Chronicles. It has a more serious and mature tone. There is still quite a bit of humor sprinkled throughout, but it is more of a witty humor. And I can’t overlook the romance which was really beautiful to experience. The book is written as a standalone novel, but I can easily imagine it turning into a series and hope that the sales of this spooky historical mystery warrant more stories about Violet.
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Posted by
Abigail
at 12:01 AM
Labels: 4 bats, Alyxandra Harvey, ghosts, historical, Paranormal YA, Review, standalone
Labels: 4 bats, Alyxandra Harvey, ghosts, historical, Paranormal YA, Review, standalone
17 April 2011
 | Title: An Embarrassment of Riches
Sexual Content: References to oral sex and non-consensual sex. Rating:
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
Description
More than two decades strong, the Saint-Germain cycle is one of the most compelling works of dark fantasy and horror of our age. Historically accurate, often involving key events or figures from throughout world history, these deeply emotional novels have a devoted readership. Each novel is written as a stand-alone and they are not chronologically consecutive, so readers may enter the saga with any book and move backward or forward in time as they choose, from Pharaonic Egypt to Paris in the 1700s, from the fall of the Roman Empire to World War II Europe.
In An Embarrassment of Riches, the vampire Count finds himself a virtual prisoner in the Court of Kunigunde in Bohemia in the 1200s. Rakoczy Ferncsi, as Saint-Germain is known, passes his days making jewels to delight Queen Kunigunde and trying not to become involved in the Court's intrigues. In this, the vampire fails. Handsome, apparently wealthy, and obviously unmarried, he soon finds himself being sexually blackmailed by Rozsa, an ambitious lady-in-waiting. If he does not satisfy her, she will denounce him to the priests and he'll be burned at the stake, resulting in his True Death. Despite his care, the vampire makes more than one enemy at the Bohemian Court, and by the end of An Embarrassment of Riches, the Count can see only one road to freedom...through death.
Review
A meticulous novel, AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES brought to mind an elaborate version of THE HISTORIAN, told from the vampire’s perspective. As much a historical novel as anything else, the supernatural elements of the story were as realistically imagined as any other aspect of daily life. To further add to the feeling of reading primary source material, Yarbro intermixes letters between the chapters, a device that made me feel as threatened and engaged as any of the main characters trying to unwind the political and religious intrigues around them.
Despite the many books that have come before RICHES in this series, Saint-Germain's perspective is easily accessible to a new reader. I had no difficulty feeling involved, perhaps because Saint-Germain is as much as an outsider in his surroundings as I myself was.
As pivotal as Saint-Germain’s perspective was to maintaining my place in the story story, I believe that is also why the emotion that dominated my mood when I finished this book was “melancholy”. The realities of daily life in court are grim, made even more so by the machinations of the Church. All of the women in RICHES, other than Saint-Germain’s epistolary vampire companion Olivia, were stunted in some way by the political and religious realities of their lives. I thought it was fascinating how Saint-Germain responded to threats of violence and rape, but his mute reaction to exploitation was as sad as these women's inability to trust, love, or find physical satisfaction in any relationship that wasn't a power struggle.
While this particular snapshot of Saint-Germain’s life was both fascinating and sad, I still felt like there were hints of happier times both ahead and in his past. It was the sadness in this book that knocked my rating for RICHES from four bats down to three (as not everyone will enjoy the tension and somber tone), but I will definitely come back to this series for more fascinating history and perhaps a happier Saint-Germain.
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Posted by
Julia
at 6:30 AM
Labels: 3 bats, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, historical, Paranormal, Review, Saint-Germain, Vampires
Labels: 3 bats, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, historical, Paranormal, Review, Saint-Germain, Vampires
12 December 2010
| Title: Blood Prophecy Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Review Copy Source: Author |  |
Book Description
Man and monster are in his blood. . .
His name is Jeremiah Fall. A soldier of fortune, he has been fighting his own war for 150 years--ever since the beast in him was born.
Desperate to restore his lost humanity, Fall crosses the sands of Egypt, discovers a lost city off the coast of France, and finally arrives at the birthplace of all mankind. Shunning daylight and feeding only when he must, he battles the monster who transformed him forever. He can share his deepest secret with no one . . . not even the beautiful woman he starts to love, the only human who grasps the mysteries of an ebony stone as old as creation itself.
Across the world, across time, Fall seeks the stone's secret. But has he found a cure for himself or unleashed a final curse on all mankind?
Review
BLOOD PROPHECY feels like a throwback to the old adventure novels of the late 19th century (e.g. KING SOLOMON’S MINES) but with one very modern twist: vampires.
Weaving together fact and fiction with a new vampire mythology that reimagines the biblical Creation account, BLOOD PROPHECY follows the vampiric birth of Jeremiah Fall from the early Puritan settlements in America, across the deserts of Egypt and the coasts of France, touching on the legend of Atlantis and the lost city of Ys, in search of answers to what he is, and the hope of returning to what he was.
The writing is very good, extremely descriptive without getting bogged down with unnecessary details. The character of Jeremiah Fall himself is as close to flesh and blood as fiction can get (his turning is one of the best I’ve read in a long while). But the vampire mythology was my favorite part of BLOOD PROPHECY with it’s archaeological connection to a second Rosetta Stone.
I did find myself getting impatient with the pacing, and thought the journey to the final showdown was unnecessarily tedious. And apart from Jeremiah (and his horse), none of the other characters were memorable. Still, unique mythology and a realistic tortured hero make BLOOD PROPHECY worth a read.
Sexual Content: References to rape. A brief, non-graphic sex scene. Kissing
My Rating:
3/5
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Click HERE to read an excerpt from BLOOD PROPHECY
BLOOD PHROPHECY book trailer
Previous books in the series:
- N/A
Also reviewed by:
Posted by
Abigail
at 6:30 AM
Labels: 3 bats, historical, Paranormal, Review, Stefan Petrucha, Vampires
Labels: 3 bats, historical, Paranormal, Review, Stefan Petrucha, Vampires
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