The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne My rating: 5 of 5 stars So, I read this book in two days. I was obsessed with it. I wanted to know what would happen, even though I was fully aware that this was a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Anyone, who has been following my reviews for the last year knows by now that I did my graduate thesis on Austen’s six major novels, which included Persuasion. It was never my favourite of the six, but I still loved it, nonetheless. So, to come across a retelling of Persuasion set in space had me intrigued from the start, because I do…
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The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2)
The Wicked King by Holly Black My rating: 5 of 5 stars Well, it took me a while to recover from this one. I’m still speechless. What can I say about this story without giving anything away or unintentionally preparing the reader for any of the twists that will await them? I like Jude. She isn’t perfect, but I appreciate her attempts at sorting out the epic mess she finds herself in. Although, I’m not sure she knows exactly how serious her troubles really are. The King of Elfham is certainly something else. As cruel and rude as he behaves most of the time, he provides an interesting contrast to…
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The Raven’s Tale
The Raven’s Tale by Cat Winters My rating: 3 of 5 stars I finally had the chance to read Cat Winters’ new book The Raven’s Tale. I found it to be extraordinarily dark, making my skin crawl with every page. I don’t know much about Edgar Allen Poe. I had to analyze one of his shorter stories, Ligeia for my Gothic Literature course last fall, I read a manga version of The Tell Tale Heart and obviously saw The Simpsons version of The Raven many years ago, but Poe has always been a creator of dark tales that I could only stomach in very small dosages. And this comes from…
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Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1
Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis My rating: 1 of 5 stars I love the Netflix series Jessica Jones and decided to borrow this volume from my local library while waiting for the next season to come out. Well, let me tell you: this was pretty awful. Why? You may ask. Let me count the ways: The dialogue was horrendous. I know the writers tried to make it come across naturally and all, but every speech bubble contained many words repeated over and over again to signify stuttering or hesitation. It’s effective when used sparingly, but this just stopped any form of flow the dialogue could have…
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Once Upon a River
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield My rating: 1 of 5 stars I think this was one of the most anticipated books of 2019 for me and what a let down it turned out to be. I waited months for this story to become available at my local library; that’s how in demand it is. When I finally held it in my hands all I could think was “tis mine now!” and I took it with me on my trip to the UK. That’s right. I lugged a book halfway across the world on top of buying a whole bunch of books on my trip for research purposes. And…
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Hollow Earth
Hollow Earth by Amy Miles My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received this ARC from Red Coat Publishing and the authors in exchange for an honest review.The story continues and it’s a dire situation for Taryn and friends. I was excited to get this book in my hands and felt a bit subdued after the amazing first book I could barely put down long enough to eat/sleep.This installment was mainly character driven, which is by no means a bad thing. I was just looking forward to more of the action and anticipation and the rawness of the characters’ emotions to have a greater part in this book.The reader gets…
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling My rating: 5 of 5 stars Part of BBC’s “100 Stories that shaped the World” list, I thought it would be fun to keep track of all the works I have read that are listed.What can I say about Harry Potter that hasn’t already been said? It is a series I keep reading again and again, and I feel I cannot really review one or all of them, because in my mind it is a never-ending story. I refuse to admit that the series has officially concluded.The series warms my heart and gets me so excited every time I open the…
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Carmilla
Carmilla: A Vampyre Tale by J. Sheridan Le Fanu My rating: 5 of 5 stars I signed up for a graduate seminar course starting in the fall, perfect timing, called The Walking Undead: Zombies and Vampires in Transatlantic Cultural History, a literature course studying works other than the obvious Frankenstein and Dracula, and thank goodness for that. In anticipation of starting the new semester I asked my prof to provide me with the reading list, unfortunately he only gave me the list of authors, whose selected works we will be studying. I am pretty sure, though, that Carmilla is on the list, considering it is the story that inspired Bram…
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From the Embers: A Havenwood Falls Novella
From the Embers: by Amy Miles My rating: 5 of 5 stars I received this ARC from Red Coat Publishing and the author in exchange for an honest review.Amy Miles wrote a Havenwood Falls novella and I could not have been more excited, well, maybe if it had been a full-length novel, but I don’t want to be greedy.The main character was interesting and well developed, although at times I felt like shouting at her to be less angsty, but it suited her and made her stronger. The secondary characters had me feel all kinds of emotions, ranging from sadness to giddiness to flat out rage, which is a great…
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Bring Me Their Hearts
Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was given this ARC by the publisher in return for an honest review.If I had a print copy of this book, it would go on my permanent bookshelf. It was that good, nay great. A few weeks ago, I saw a Goodreads friend reviewing it, I decided to check it out and subsequently requested it on NetGalley. I was surprised when I was approved within a very short time and excited to start reading it. I’m so happy I had the chance to read it. It was such a rare and spellbinding treat for a reader.All…
