bookproblem

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Divergent

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

5 stars out of 5

Beatrice Prior at the age of sixteen just like every other sixteen-year-old living in her dystopian future Chicago, must choose a faction. Each of the five factions seeks to eliminate what they believe is humanities worst failure, by becoming the opposite of that trait. Each person is seen to be fit to cultivate one of these virtues: honesty (Candor), bravery (Dauntless), selflessness (Abnegation), kindness (Amity), or intelligence (Erudite). Beatrice's decision seems impossible and building a new life in the wake of her decision is so much harder, especially since life in the city is not all that it seems. 

I had several reasons for wanting to read this book, it was highly recommended in the bookstores and by several other sources I trusted. Also despite being kind of over dystopian teen fiction as a genre I like reading whats popular in YA-fic. 

In a lot of ways Beatrice (Tris) Prior is the same female protagonist we seem to keep getting over and over again. She is clumsy, physically weak, and and sees herself as unattractive. Despite this she is special, excels at parts of her training, and people are drawn to her making her a almost natural leader. For me this is almost a more general complaint about the genre then the actual book. Tris is complex and mostly likable and we can understand why she is liked by her friends and she likes them back. Even as the whole story is told from her perspective she is much less important then events around her. You root for her to win and mostly that's enough. 

The supporting cast including the male lead all shine in this book. They are complex and invoke a wide range of responses and emotions from the reader just as they need to. No character suffers for being one sided and the motivations of the villains are just as relatable as those of the heroes. This is a major strength of the book and contributes to its ability to hook you and play with your emotions. 

This book is very engaging and I blasted though it. While it did not make me cry this book was able to run me though the emotional ringer. Aside from her ability to manipulate your emotions, Veronica Roth's real strength seems to be her ability to world build. Unlike others writing dystopian or fantasy novels world building doesn't slow her down and she is able to quickly set the ground work for the society without it feeling like work. Some complain that too many questions about the world are left unanswered in Divergent but they are the kinds of questions people within a society wouldn't ask and get answered later on in the series. I believe this works in favor of the narration and feel of the book. 

I would and have highly recommended this book. If you are a fan of dystopian fiction, young adult or are interested in it based on the movie I recommend you give it a go. Maybe give the other two a skip though...

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Sex with the Queen

Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman

4 out of 5 stars

Note: As a follow up (not sequel) to Sex with Kings (click for my review) it is not necessary to read on to enjoy the other.  

Sex with the Queen as Eleanor Herman's second book after Sex with Kings flips the story and focus' on the long history of queens, who like their male counterparts, looked for love, sex, and companionship outside of their marriages. This book separates its chapters thematically on a historical time period, with each section within being the tale of a specific queen from her youth all the way until her death. Focusing entirely on European and Russian history, Herman tells the tales of queens and princesses from Medieval times all the way through to the 1990's. With a focus not only on physical lust Herman shows us how adulterous queens used there affairs to gain political power, provide heirs, or as an attempt to escape miserable lives of isolation, mistrust, and powerlessness.

After thoroughly enjoying Sex with Kings I sought out more of Herman's work and was not disappointed in this follow up. 

Herman's talent for spinning a seemingly complete and entertaining tale out of multiple historical sources is in fine form in this book. Because the condition of queens having affairs when compared to kings is much less common Herman does not have the struggle of trying to cover an immense amount of material in one book the way she did in Sex with Kings. This made the choppy strange format of Sex with Kings thankfully unnecessary in this book. That change with leads to descriptions of individual historical figures stories from beginning to end solves almost every problem that I had with Herman's first book. 

This book is an very good read. It flows well and while each individual story is very gripping its format allows for it to be easily put down and picked up again at a later date. I have also found that It is still enjoyable upon re-read. The only issue I had with the book was the same question of historical accuracy I had with Sex with Kings, several times especially in the more modern sections the book came across as a little bit gossipy so I would caution readers to take the book not as a work of academia but of pop-history. 

Overall I would highly recommend this book to fans of history, historical fiction, and royal gossip and if forced to choose between Sex with the Queen and Sex with Kings I would choose the Queen. 

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Sex with Kings

Sex with Kings by Eleanor Herman

4 out of 5 stars.

Sex with Kings tells some of the many tales of 500 year of royal mistresses from all over Europe. This book organizes this massive and varied history not by individual or country but seeks to paints a broad picture of the role and life of royal mistress'. Herman uses individuals and highly researched anecdotes from the lives of Kings and royal mistresses well known and obscure to illustrate the many different aspects of this unique and (often) prestigious position. This very clever history discusses: the establishment of a royal mistress, the many types of relationships between mistress and wife, the financial and political benefits of being royal mistress, child bearing, and even how death affected these relationships. 

This book was one that came across my desk at the book store and I just couldn't leave it behind.

Eleanor Herman has a great talent for taking historical documents and multiple account from a variety of sources and creating not only a single narrative but a compelling and interesting one. However because of the massive scope of her undertaking, the way that she formats her stories in to sections based on theme not historical figure of time period and the massive number of long complex (and often similar) names the book can be a bit confusing at times. I several times found my self flipping back and fourth in the book trying to connect names to one of the series of portraits provided as well as stories of the same figures from earlier chapters. This took me out of the flow of the book and was rather annoying. 

Even with the issues of confusion and pacing this book was a very quick read for me and a very enjoyable one. I often found myself laughing aloud and reading enjoyable passages to who ever had the luck to be in the room with me. Herman writes about a variety of historical figures with familiarity that makes the book read like gossip in a way that feeds the curious little gossip in all of us. This penchant for a gossipy and sometimes a flat out judgmental telling of history leads to a concern for the accuracy of the work. Not having a very deep understanding of many of the figures featured in the book there was no particular point where I felt the information I was provided with was definitively wrong. However the detail that she delivers about far gone historical periods and the great depth of emotion and intentions that she gives to more contemporary figures (mainly when discussing Charles/Diana/Camilla) makes this book read a lot less like serious history and more like historical gossip. 

While this may not be a book I would cite in an academic paper when taken with a grain of salt this book was wildly entertaining and I would recommend it to fans of history, historical fiction (for context) and royal gossip. 

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I'm back!

Sorry for my long absence from this blog. My life exploded, but with the start of a new school year I am making a new commitment to regular updates to this blog. I have a large number of books I have read and not reviewed but if you have any recommendations let me know I would love to read them!

-Jade

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Rasputins Daughter

Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander 

4 out of 5 stars.

Rasputin's Daughter tells the story of the last days of Rasputin's life from the point of view of his oldest daughter Maria. Interrogated by the provisional government on the details of her father's death, Maria vividly recounts a politically tumultuous Russia, where Rasputin's powerful influence over the throne is unsettling to all levels of society and the threats to his life are no secret. With vast conspiracies mounting against her father, Maria must struggle with the discovery of Rasputin's true nature (his unbridled carnal appetites, mysterious relationship with the empress, rumors of involvement in secret religious cults) to save her father from his murderers. Swept away in a plot much larger than the death of one man, Maria finds herself on the cusp of the Russian Revolution itself. (Summary taken from goodreads.com)

Last summer I worked at a used bookstore and when this book crossed my desk, even though I had never heard of it, I took it, because it looked interesting. 

Maria as a main character was a little bit all over the place for me but in a lot of ways I feel that was purposeful. She is very young and during this rather short period of time she experiences a great deal and she is very confused emotionally. There are several other central characters, Rasputin, Maria's younger sister, and a mysterious young man named Sasha and all of these seem well rounded and complex as people. Even the government official who is interviewing Maria becomes sympathetic at moments. The most interesting character is easily Rasputin and his complexity of actions and motivations are clearly illustrated through Maria's eyes. 

I wouldn't exactly call this book a fast read. While I found it a relatively easy read some of the very strange events in the plot and Maria's somewhat overblown reactions to them make it a book that you feel the need to walk away from and interact with normal people for a bit before returning to the story. The believe that the romantic subplot was a little underdeveloped for how important it seems like it is supposed to be, and the male romantic lead (Sasha) a little too mysterious. Also I found some of the details a little unbelievable even for historical fiction and that took me out of the story in an unpleasant way a few times.

Overall despite its flaws I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of historical fiction without strong emphasis on romance and to those who are interested in Russian history. 

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Friday Night Knitting Club

Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

5 out of 5 stars.

Warning this book made me sob hysterically in a way that totally freaked out my roommate.  

Friday Night Knitting Club is the story of Georgina Walkers tiny yarn shop in New York city. It is a story about knitting and adult friendship, love, parenthood, forgiveness and a group of incredibly different women who get together every friday for very different reasons to knit, eat Dakota(Georgina's teenage daughter)'s new baking experiments and try to figure out all the rest as they go. 

I am an avid knitter and so being a fan of knitting and Chick-lit I thought I would give it a try. 

All of the characters of this book are amazing. They are fantastically written in such a way that even those you don't like very much you care for deeply. Georgina is a woman who you get to know on the most basic human level very quickly. She is smart and independent but not hard. The other main women are so different but such real people in a way that you can't help but celebrate and mourn right along with them every moment. This book has a larger cast, about ten characters who you really care for, and it is truly imposable for me to say who is my favoriate they are all so beautiful and complete in there personhood. 

This book was not one that I got in to right away but as soon as I did I could not put it down. Having read other reviews of this book I can agree that the writing style especially just starting out can be a little hard to take. One of my favoriate things however and the thing I think worked the best in the book was the way in which it would switch perspective between characters. Since there are so many characters it helps us get to know them all and understand who they are. 

I really loved this book. I thought it would be one I would read once and then happily pass along, however I have not been able to let it go yet. I don't know if I will ever read it again or seek out its sequel I would recommend it to fans of chick-lit and those who aren't afraid of a good cathartic book cry. 

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Bookends

Bookends by Jane Green

3.5 out of 5 stars

Bookends is the story of college friends all grown up. Cath (Catherine Warner) and Si (Simon Nelson) are total opposites and best friends, as Cath remains closed off after her last heartbreak Si believes every man might be The One. Together with perfect married friends Jake and Lucy life is good. Just as Cath opens her self to a huge change in cureer, a new man and an old friend walk in to her life. Portia was a driving personality in Cath, Si and Jakes lives back in college and left there lives after exposing her self as a heartbreaker. With the scary prospects of opening a bookstore with Lucy, Portia’s possible other motives, and the idea of opening her self back up to love Caths life is far from borring.

Jane Green's Mr. Maybe was my first ever romance novel and gave me a view of just how amazing things in the genre could be. I have read it multiple times since those days at summer camp when I was eleven-years-old, and have also indulged in multiple readings of Jane Green’s Jamia J (which is also fantastic). So when I found this copy of Bookends I was more then exited to take it home with me and give it a try.

While in the past Jane Greens main characters have been one of the best parts of her books but Cath never really did it for me. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t dislike her I just have no special affection for her. She is very much a real person just not some one I think I would really want to be very good friends with. She doesn’t take enough care of herself and has some major self-confidence issues that even after she realizes doesn’t really do enough to adress. She works for the story however and fits very well in to the cast of the book.

Cath’s group of friends/love interest are all fantastic characters, and with the exception of one I left the book with real appreciation for. They are complex, honest, and even if they are the kind of people I want as my best friends they have the kind of adult friendship that I want mine to look like in ten years or so.

This book does the great thing that Jane Green romances do where it is not all about the boy meet girl. The boy does meet girl and large parts of the book are about them learning each other and how they fit together but I would never say that it is the central plot of the book. This book is more about how life constantly changes and how our expectations and preconceptions have to change with it. I am trying to not give away any of the twists or major plot points but the thing I of course have to mention is that Cath and Lucy open the bookstore/cafe of every book nerds dreams. (Or is it just me who dreams of owning my own bookstore?)

As you may have guessed by how I have been gushing about her I am absolutely in love with the writing of Jade Green but I have to be honest compared to the others I have read by her this was not her strongest and not my favorite. In the weeks that have passed between reading this book and now reviewing it I find that I like it a lot less now then I did then. I think the reason behind that is that when I read this book it invoked a great number of strong emotions in me but once it was over that emotional experience left me. It was cathartic but not worth a second read. I would recommend this book to fans of chick lit and intelligent funny romance that isn't all romance. Beware however that this is not an emotion neutral reading experience I almost cried reading this book. And if I didn't make it clear I would recommend Jamia J or Mr Maybe (both by Jane Green) first.

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The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars (The Looking Glass Wars 1) By Frank Beddor

4 out of 5 stars.

This book is a re-telling of Lewis Carroll's classic tale of Alice in Wonderland. Alyss Heart was six-years-old when the card solders of her aunt Redd invaded the Heart Castle forcing her to flee with her bodyguard Hatter Madigan through the pool of tears in to our world. Separated from Hatter alone in the streets of London, Alyss finds her self alone, not believed and unable to find her way back to Wonderland to reclaim her mothers throne from the murderous Redd. After young Alyss is adopted and renamed Alice Liddell, constantly being told that the world of her childhood, and her power of imagination, is just a fantasy she tries one last time to connect to the world of her past. Telling the kind Reverend Dodgson her whole life story he then gets it all wrong and publishes the non-sensical Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. All while the tyrannical rule of Redd ravages Wonderland and the resistance grows weaker and weaker. 

This book came to me as a recommendation from one of this blogs readers Machi38. If you have any recommendations please send them to me.

While this book would seem to be all about Alyss and her life in and outside of Wonderland I think it is very important to establish that this book has many main characters. It is the story of Redd Queen of Wonderland, her top assassin the Cat, the royal historian Bibwit Hare, royal bodyguard Hatter Madigan traveling the world looking for his lost princess, and of Alyss' childhood best friend Dodge Anderson leader of the resistance movement. All of these characters serve very important functions in the story and we get to know each one very closely through there narration, and all of them are complex and interesting characters. 

As you may guess from this above summary of just a few of the books memorable characters a lot goes on in this book. For the most part this book jumps not only large gaps of time but also geographical location and between our world and wonderland very well. My only real complaint about this book would be the sheer number of number of fantastical beasts and inventions Frank Beddor introduces. These things serve to make the story both a complete and fascinating world but also immensely confusing. The characters of this story therefore become the grounding force of reality that every fantasy tale needs.

There were some times I found the writing choppy, and a bit rushed, this was however  mostly in the last half of the story and is only a minor complaint. The imagination necessary to take the well established story of Alice in Wonderland and make it new and exiting is were Frank Beddor really shines. As well the background of the connections between our world and that of wonderland and the illustrations in the book are amazing additions to the story.

This book was a very fast read and a thrilling one. This book finds itself very action packed at times (something I am not usually a fan of) and at others has amazing emotional impact. Once I got in to it I honestly couldn't put it down. I would recommend it to fans of bloody exiting fantasy. 

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Trashy Romance Commuting! (#1)

I recently had to start taking a train comute three times a week and just a few days ago discovered that my local train station has a shelf of free paperbacks (thank you lake forest public library!) and so I have decided that the perfect thing is to take this opportunity to read really trashy romance novels and tell you all about them. 

Just Little Bit Pregnant By Eileen Wilks 

3.5 out of 5 trashy romance stars

This book is the story of Jacy, a successful orphan reporter who discovers she is pregnant as the result of a heart breaking one night stand two months earlier. Tom was her friend but the widower police detective left her right after they made love and never called!! Now he is back in her life and wants to marry her! Will Jacy ever get over her trust issues to take Tom really in to her heart?!?! Will she solve the mystery of the parents who abandoned her in a basket on the steps of the orphanage?!?! ...Yes. 

This book really is that ridiculous and over dramatic. I usually really like the absurdity of  Harlequin and Silhouette romance novels and tend to look for the worst title and then fall a little bit in love with its predictability.

This book however just fell too flat. It is ridiculous, it is over dramatic, but its not fun. The whole orphan thing was just really weird and the ending made me feel kind of uncomfortable instead of making me say awwww. Its only stars come from its truly horrendous premise, to bad it didn't live up to how funny it could have been. 

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Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

4 out of 5 stars.

Lola and the Boy Next Door serves as a continuation of Stephanie Perkins first book Anna and the French kiss. Our new protagonist Lola lives in San Francisco works at a movie theater with now first year college student Anna. Lola believes in making her own costumes instead of wearing clothes with the life goal of being a clothing designer and is dating a dirty rocker boy much older and cooler then her. Life would therefor be pretty awesome if not for the sharp disapproval of both of her dads, the return of her psychic birthmother, as well as the return of the family next door. Twins Calliope and Cricket Bell moved away two years ago so that Calliope could peruse her ice skating career leaving an ugly mark in Lola and Cricket's relationship. Lola must now figure out how to survive mandatory Saturday breakfast with her boyfriend and parents, the physics of making a full hoop skirt and her confusing feelings for Cricket.

I wanted to read this book as soon as I finished Anna and the French Kiss (reviewed here). Anna was such a sweet, smart, novel that I wanted to follow up with more of Stephanie Perkins’ work. The desire to read it was increased when I discovered its shared characters.

Lola or Delores to her parents is not the perfect girl. She is a reasonably good friend and daughter. She is that girl you knew in high school who makes her own clothes and never wears the same thing twice. My personal experience with that girl was that she was a little bit fake, trying just a little bit too hard. When it comes to Lola however she seems to feel most honestly like herself in “costume” instead of “clothing.” She does however try too hard in other ways, mainly her relationship with the significantly older Max. I like Lola as a character but I’m not sure that I would want to be her friend.

The other title character is Cricket Bell, the boy next door. Cricket is kind of ordinary for my tastes. He is lucky to not fulfill all of my stereotypes of a male love interest in YA fiction, but he is not the kind of male lead you fall in love with either. I found a lot of the characters like this. They are complex completely realized people, who you don't really like.

I did not read this book with the devouring abandon that I did Anna and the French Kiss. It didn’t need that much of my attention and I didn’t feel the need to put anything else off to read it. That said I did really enjoy it. Stephanie Perkins once again shone as a writer in this book. This book could have simply been one with characters I didn’t like and a low action plot structure (culminating in a big school dance *yawn*), Perkins' skill still made it a very enjoyable reading experience.

While there were things in this book I didn’t enjoy over all I found it good fun, and a very decent way to pass a few days of reading time. Anyone who enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss and would like to see their old friends again would probably enjoy this book. As for me, I don’t see myself reading it again until it is time to brush up for Isla and the Happily Ever After (which is scheduled to be published 2013).

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Eon & Eona

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (Eon, #1) By Alison Goodman

Eona (Eon, #2) By Alison Goodman

Combined 4.5 out of 5 Stars. (Eon=4 and Eona=5)

SPOILER ALERT (this review spoils character development and some plot points but the true story line of the book is not touched on.)

Eon and Eona tell the story of a twelve-year-old boy, Eon who one of a group of boys who have been training for the honor of becoming the rat dragoneye. Dragoneyes are the living connection between the magical dragon spirits that are the energies of the directions and make up the advisory council that help protects the land and advise the emperor. Eon is different from the rest of his years group of dragoneye candidates in not only in being crippled but in the fact that Eon is in fact sixteen-year-old girl named Eon. Having trained for the last four years, the small crippled Eon is the ultimate underdog whose failure to keep his true nature a secret would end in swift death. At a dazzling and un-expected sword ceremony Eon gets chosen as the first Mirror Dragoneye in 500 years. As the stakes of her deception go up, Eon must quickly unlock the secrets of the Mirror Dragon while struggling with the treachery and power games of imperial court in her new very public position as co-ascendent leader of the dragoneye council.

I read this book after months of exposure to it in my frequent trips to browse Barns & Noble. After a year of reading the back cover when I had access to a really fantastic library I went for it. 

Before I go in to the rest of the review I just want to state clearly that I very much like these books and thoroughly enjoyed reading them and read them very quickly. Now I will rip appart the parts I didn't like. 

Eon or Eona, is a very simple person wrapped up in a very complicated situation and never fully actualized gender issues. For almost all of Eon our title character refers to themselves as male, having been living male for the last four years on the treat of death has almost brainwashed him. Eon seems to have no internal gender identity separate from the way in which his is perceived, and when the secret is revealed and Eon starts to live as Eona there is absolutely no angst about being a girl just as there was none about 'being male' before. That while being really really frustrating was not even close to the only or most frustrating thing about Eon as a character. Eon does not think for himself. He is easily manipulated in the political games at court and later in the second book is manipulated by lust. Even in the moments where Eon(a) uses her power to help other and take control of the situation around her (s)he is almost more annoying in those moments of over the top self riotousness then (s)he was helpless. There was no point in this series where I could honestly say that I really liked Eon(a) as a person. (s)he is too flawed, too easily manipulated, and too ready to use there power against those who care for them when possessing the power. 

This book did how ever have what is probably one of my favoriate cast of supporting characters in the form of Lady Dela (a women spirited man) a member of the imperial court and her guard Ryko. These two are adorable, honest, beautiful human beings and really in a lot of ways made this book for me. For all that Eon(a)s gender issues bug the crap out of me Dela has a fully realized gender identity that She does not shy away from. Ryko also explores the variability of gender in being a strong, honest, stalwart man while also being an eunuch in love with Dela. 

For all my problems with the main character. I greatly enjoyed this book. The world that Alison Goodman creates clearly calls upon both ancient Japanese and Chinese traditions with added mythology, bug manages to be both very original and complete. After about the first hundred pages the plot becomes unpredictable and compelling. While Eon(a) is struggling making bad life choices, the world around her keeps turning and you can't wait to see how it all ends. 

Despite my numerous problems with this book I kind of loved it. I would highly recommend it to fans of fantasy, asian culture, and adventure. 

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The Queen's Fool

The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

5 stars out of 5

(Warning this book made me cry a little, because I'm really just a huge sap.)

In the continuation of Philippa Gregory's very popular series of historical fiction about life at the court of the Tutors, The Queens Fool tells the story of one young woman who experiences life at the court of all three of Henry VII's children. Hannah Green is newly english, born Hannah Verde she and her father have escaped the inquisition that burned her mother for being a Jew in Spain by coming to London. While Hannah and her father want to live simple quiet common lives Hannah's power to see the future gets her begged as a fool to King Edward. Under the thrall of her Master Robert Dudley Hannah spys, schemes and gets her self passed from Edward to Mary and eventually to Elisabeth. With split loyalties and a betrothed who wants her to walk away from it all one young woman must try and make the right decisions in a world where knowledge is suppressed and the correct religion to practice changes with every monarch. 

The first time I read this book it was directly after having read Philippa Gregory's The Other Boylen Girl. I was pretty young (probably a little too young for the amount of sex and intrigue in the book) and thoroughly in love with all things historical fiction. In the hight of its popularity as a book (long before the movie) I thought of The Queens Fool as its smaller less glamorous sequel. But now almost 8 years later this is the story I enjoy more and feel more compelled to return to. 

Hannah is complicated, conflicted, young, passionate, and ultimately incredible strong. As a woman and a character she is fantastic. Her life is complicated her choices are hard and there is almost never a right choice. In a time where woman were firmly the property of the men in there lives Hannah is strong intelligent and fiercely independent.  

All the characters of this book are real people, and Hannahs intended husband Daniel is in my opinion the best kind of love interest. Not perfect, not a simple refelction of the main character, and honestly compatible and in love with our heroine. While of course Daniel is not the only contender for Hannahs heart, for me he falls in to the category of fictional characters I have a major crush on. 

Even on what I think must be at least the 5th read through this book is still a page turner. It is compelling and beautifully written, It captures both the splender of court life, the fear of the Inquisition, and the day to day life of common men and women in England of this time.

I know one of the HUGE criticisms laid against Philippa Gregory is her loose use of historical fact making her books much more historical fiction then any history enthusiast can easily take. For me as long as you go in with eyes open and an understanding that first and formost this is a story for entertainment purposes then the story and lives portrayed by Gregory are so compelling that I don't really care.

I would recommend this book to any fan of historical fiction or anyone who has read and enjoyed the Other Boleyn Girl. Having just purchased my own copy of this book I know it will be one that I will continue to return to over the years. 

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Across the Universe (book I didn't finnish)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I did not finnish this book.

I really tried to give this book a fair shake I read about a third of it (133 pages) and I was just not interested. A lot of things happen in this book and Beth Revis works hard to create interest in the main characters and build a world completely different from any other. The style of the book switching between the two main characters has a lot of promise but it just didn't work for me. 

I have read plenty of good reviews of this book and I would not actively discourage anyone who was honestly interested in it from reading it. I how ever read it almost purely because it was popular and was disappointed and bored, 

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Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin 1) by Robin LaFevers

5 out of 5 stars

Ismae is a seventeen-year-old saved from an abusive father who sold her to an abusive husband, by being taken in to service at the convent of St. Mortain the old god of death. Here she learns that she is a chosen daughter of the God and is taught the many arts of bringing death. Just as she truly begins her service of the god outside of the convents walls she is brought directly to the center of Brittany's court surrounded by politics and intrigue. Here she realizes exactly how unprepared the convent has left her for anything but killing. 

As soon as I saw this book on the shelf at the book store and read it's summery and tagline I was hooked on the concept. I could not have been more pleased this book lived up to every ounce of its promise. 

Ismae is my favorite kind of main character she is knowledgeable about her faults, thinks critically about the things that are happening around her, and all of the faith that she shows in the people around her is earned not just given. I love the care she has for the people around her and Robin LaFevers did an incredible job of taking a character who kills people and would have been so easy to dislike, and make her some one you want to know and you feel like you do. 

Everyone other character in the story also felt like a whole and complete person with there own lives and motivations. Even the characters who you see very little of or you don't like are real people and not just flat single negative characteristics. 

From the very first moment of this book till the very last page I did not want to put this book down. I got in to this story from the very beginning, while the story skips three years of Ismae's training it never really feels like there is anything missing. Robin LaFevers creates an complete world, with its own political, religious, and cultural systems. It is simply an incredible book on all levels. 

The writing of this book is its truly its shining glory. I have a hard time explaining the what exactly I liked about this book because I LOVED all of it. I almost never give five star reviews out of the 293 books I have rated I have given only 37 five stars (thats less then 13%) 

I would recommend this book to fans of: light fantasy, historical fiction, young adult fiction, magic, adventure, romance, or books in general. I truly wish I could say more about this book to impress upon you its quality. 

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Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

4.5 out of 5 stars

Anna is a girl taken from a life as close to perfect as she could want it: job she loves, amazing best friend, possible love interest in the boy at work and only one year left before she is done with high school for good. To this add the unwanted meddling of her father a mediocre author whose books of people who fall desperately in love until one of them get sick and slowly dies have gone from best sellers to blockbusters. It is all his idea that Anna get sent to boarding school in Paris a place she defiantly does not want to be. Everything changes as Anna makes friends and mets the irresistible Etienne St. Clair. How ever St. Clair is taken, and Anna still feels attached to the what could have beens/and what could be's waiting for her at home. As Annas year in Paris unfolds the challenges and changes that life throws our way Anna realizes the person she is and the one she wants to grow in to. 

This was the second book I have read on the recommendation of John Green who claimed it was like him and Maureen Johnson had a french baby it would be this book. Since I enjoy the honesty of both of these authors and the romance and sweet quirkiness of characters found in Johnsons books I was exited to give this book a try. 

Anna right from the beginning of this story is a fantastic person though which to experience the story. Not being physically and temperamentally perfect makes her much more relatable and truly likable. She is like a real person in a way that I can not get enough of in good fiction. She also has something not enough fiction heroins have, more then two friends. Anna has a group of friends that read just like everyone I knows high school experience, she is closer with some and there are fights and relationships and no matter what at the end of the day there is a group. 

When it gets to the male protagonist/love interest Etienne St. Clair however he again reads like the perfect teenage boy romantic candidate. At least at first, just like The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, we pull out the english accent to make every one swoon. He is also the boy in school that every one likes, I literally rolled my eyes at his first introduction. As the story unfolds however St. Clair actually did become a character that I did like, even if I didn't want to date him. 

I truly and completely loved this story. It is one of those stories where it would be hard to really point out big life changing events but at the same time every moment is important. It reads like real life, relationships aren't built over night, not all questions are tied up with neat bows and mistakes are made. I positively consumed this book the pacing was perfect and as far as first novels go I don't believe I have read one better.

It has recently come to my attention that Lola and the Boy Next Door Stephanie Perkins in a small way continues the story of Anna and St. Clair and while it was already on my shelf of checked out library books it just may have pushed its way to the top of the list. I would highly recommend this book to any fans of Maureen Johnson, or fans of romantic young adult fiction in general. 

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Vampire Academy (1of6)

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

3 out of 5 stars

The vampire academy officially St. Vladimirs is a remote and hidden place where Moroi vampires and the half humans who protect them, Dhampir, are trained in the magic and skills necessary to stay away from the grasp of the Strigoi, a race of fierce, vicious, ruthless and nearly immortal vampires that want nothing more then Moroi blood. In to this world we find Rose, a beautiful and dedicated Dhampir who serves as gardian for her best friend Moroi Princess Lissa. Rose and Lissa who have be on the run for the last two years are draged back to St. Vladimirs and the very dangers they were running from. 

I read this book purely as a form of coercion, I made the agreement with my best friend that if I read this book she would read Tamora Pierces amazing Immortals series. This friend and I share a deep love and respect for books, but generally they are different books. She is extremely unwilling to read anything that does not include some supernatural element, (everything she reads I call it a vampire sex novel, and she has stopped disagreeing). Based on this, and its kind of terrible title, I was expecting do really dislike this book. I feared that this would resemble too strongly the House of Night series which I found to be terribly written, convoluted, flat charactered trash. This was then yet another rather pleasant surprise. 

This books main character, Rose, made this book for me. But just to be clear this was a bit of a gradual process for me. It took me over one-hundred pages of this book for me to start enjoying this book, and then she displays quite of few of the genres clichés. Rose is beautiful, being a mix of middle eastern and irish decent, generously proportioned with large and wild hair, a virgin with a reputation as a bit of a slut, and she was the popular party girl while being smart and talented as well. Rose endes up being so much more then this and as we get passed the initial setting and into the real meat of the story. Over the course of the book Rose becomes and honest and relatable character. Her motivations and actions aren't alway perfect and while I don't think I would want to be her best friend I love the experience of pretending to be her the book provides. 

Unfortunately for me at least the rest of the characters don't quite live up to the same standard. I simply found all of the other characters a little bit borring. (Sorry to my friend who has a crush on Dimitri at least he is more interesting then just about everyone else).

When I consider the plot of this book I have to give some serious props to Richelle Mead for creating a interesting tale with unexpected twists and turns, and a lot of interest out of what could have been the 'been there, done that' concept of teenage vampires. The people and the ways in which they relate: romantically, politically, to themselves, and even to the past, drives the story very well thorough time fluidly and honestly. 

The writing of this book did leave somethings to be desired however. As I mentioned before the first hundred pages or so felt a lot like a chore. This is especially unfortunate however because of just how much I found myself enjoying the rest of the story. Set with the task of explaining an entire world, which the characters are already intimately aquatinted with, Richelle Meads stumbles but I am very hopeful for the rest of the series since the world is now firmly established. 

Overall I enjoyed Vampire Academy and plan on reading the entire series but I'm not sure I would recommend it. It is exactly the kind of cheap easy fiction that I will read once and enjoy; and then happily not really think about ever again at any length or with any depth. 

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Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

4.5 out of 5 stars

Pride and Prejudice is the classic romance that tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, one of five sisters, for whom Mrs. Bennet's only goal in life is to find five husbands. When rich and eligible Mr. Bingley and his friend the unpleasant and very proud seeming Mr. Darcy move in to a large house in the neighborhood, Mrs. Bennet is ecstatic at Mr. Bingley's preference for her oldest daughter Jane. Elizabeth is determined from the beginning to hate Mr. Darcy and even more when he conspires to keep Mr. Bingley away from Jane because of the Bennet's firmly middle class existence in comparison to Bingley and Darcy's much higher standing. In this engaging story that spans an entire year we see society, expectations, manners, and first impressions and how many things change and many things stay exactly the same. 

I read this book as apart of a personal quest to read the books before seeing the movies whenever possible, and while their are several movies of Pride and Prejudice they were not actually the inspiration. The youtube series The Lizzy Bennet Diaries which created by Hank Green of who I am a fan and then strongly recommended to my by my older brother whose opinion I greatly treasure, meant that it was time to read Pride and Prejudice (that and finding a good copy for 99 cents and goodwill).  

There are many characters in Pride and Prejudice and often (especially in the beginning) there names get confusing and hard to keep straight, but our main cast have very strong characteristics that become well defined early. I did however find it a very strange feature of this book that the characters with the most strongly defined characteristics and sympathetic personalities were only the females. It is likely either a symptom of the society in which the story takes place or the authors sex (most likely both) that lead to this strange lack of understanding of the male characters. While I came to like the male characters of the story I still felt that I did not know them very well, while there were several female characters out side of our narrator that I feel like I know just as well as my best friends. Every character however felt like a real and complete person even those in the periphery. 

When it comes to plot, Pride and Prejudice is split in to three volumes of about equal length that split the story by its major events. (I am trying to not provide any spoilers for while this is a classic novel I read it with no knowledge of the out come of the story and greatly enjoyed it that way.) While I have read some reviews that complain that not enough of substance really happens in the story I would say: one, I don't believe that to be true and, two isn't that a great deal like real life? Every day life is not grand events and constant happenings some times its a few parties and walking in to town so as not to be too borred, or even looking after a sick friend. Pride and Prejudice feels real and honest in its events just as it does in its people. 

After the first few chapters in which very little happens and the distinctions between the  five Miss. Bennet's, Mrs. Bennet, Miss, Bingley, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Bennet get really confusing. The book really starts to find its stride. While there were times all the way through the book were a bit of language would trip me up or the usage of a particular word would be so vastly different then its common usage now that I would need a moment to figure out its exact meaning, over all this book is not a hard read. With even a small understanding of the society in which these events take place (a watching of Downton Abby helps with this and also its just awesome), and some care and attention payed to the book as your reading it to make sure that you are really comprehending the text It should not take more hen a few days to read. 

This is yet another book (like Count of Monte Cristo) that my mother would give me that look and say "Well honey they are generally classic for a reason." I found the book to be truly beautiful and moving, Jane Austen is a fantastic author I suggest it to just about any one and I can't wait to continue my way thought her works.