Living Literarily

OK, before anyone judges my harsh review of this much beloved book, I have to defend my two star review. My first complaint is the voice. I have grown up in a family of 8 children, I have many cousins with young children whom I am close to, I babysit, and I am generally very familiar with children. This book felt like it was going between the voice of a two and twenty year old. That took away from the story to me.  I am also well travelled and have German family. The Holocaust has long fascinated me and I still have memories of visiting concentration camps at a young age and being physically ill over what I learned and saw. One of my favorite movies is La Vita é Bella (please watch it). This book did not line up with a lot of the history of WWII that I have read. Also, the extreme ignorance of the main character is unbelievable.  The concept is good and I feel like putting children in the context of some of the world's greatest tragedies is a powerful tool, I just felt ...

I am so excited to share this book with you! In a quick one sentence descriptions: this book is Cinder meets Persuasion. In a world recovering from the effects of genetic modification gone wrong, the population is split between the Luddite nobility and the Reduced. The Reduced have a limited mental capacity which makes them perfect slaves, but that has been changing. Enter Kai (yes, I realize the name is the same from Cinder, but they came out around the same time and he is just as dreamy if not more) and Elliot, both from the two very separated classes, but united in their love for adventure. Their story plays out as an awesome feminist and unique retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. I love the original story, so I was wary of anyone messing with it, but I approve and am currently in the midst of the second book which a retelling of *drumroll please* THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL!!!!! One of my all time favorite books, musicals, and my go-to sick movie. I am enjoying it just...

I devoured this book! Why? Because it is paced extremely well and I actually cared about what happened in the end. From the first word this book pulls you in as it describes the tragic scene of the murder of the main character’s father. The lead, Kate, is a hard character to get close to, but I guess that remains true to her tough gun-slinging cowgirl exterior. We meet her in a time of great distress and her thoughts tend towards narrow and feverish in her quest to avenge her father, hence the title. The few supporting characters were likable and fit in with the landscape of the book. Jesse and Will were immediate favorites of mine as Kate fell into their unlikely hands. They felt like brothers and that is sometimes a hard relationship to portray (or maybe I am just picky because I have four of them!). Even the memories shared of characters such as her mother and father seem sincere. My one complaint is more a matter of personal preference than true dislike and that ...

If you had told me a while ago that I would be giving a vampire book five stars, I would have laughed in your face. There is a bit of a story behind how I came to read this wonderful novel and it starts with the rekindling of an old friendship. It had been years since I had seen my good friend Elliott and I was surprised to see a message from her on my Goodreads account. Of course, it was about books that I had read. We began talking and texting about our most recent reads and soon we were meeting up at our favorite local bookstores. The first time we met up, she handed me this book. I was doubtful and started to question every conversation we had in which I thought she had good taste. *Yes, I get judgmental about what books people like. I'm working on it. But, I also consider it extremely rude to not read a book received as a gift. It's like telling someone that you don't want a piece of their soul because you don't like the color of their shoes. I'm...

(Disclaimer: This is a review written less than 5 minutes after finishing the book so it is not articulate as I would normally like my reviews to be. I may rewrite it later when I can stand to think about this book without vomiting.) This books is a bad Spanish novella that decided to cram everything into two episodes to save money.  The first half was actually more 2 stars for me. It was frustrating that the characters were so flat and everything was rushed without details. The sex that was present in every conversation irked me, but I understood the author was trying to stay true to the book The Picture of Dorian Gray which Doreen was based on. Oscar Wilde would be appalled to see what has been done.  I try to be kind to books, so I am going to be generous and say this was 1.5 star book for me, which only means I have read worse. After reading another reader's review I thought the second half of the book would be better, but it wasn’t.  The closest I came ...

I'm not sure about all of you, but when I read a book I love, I cannot help but shout it from the rooftops. Likewise if I feel that a book has not been worth my time or the pages it was written on. You will find examples of both here in my blog, but I hardly ever find myself talking about the books that fill the cracks in between. Those books that you read,, semi-enjoy, and only remember when you look back on your reading challenge on Goodreads to marvel at your own reading prowess. Etiquette and Espionage was one of those books for me. I am a huge fan of steam-punk, when it is done right. This book (and the following books in the series) do not fail when it comes to the fascinating concepts that accompany the genre, but rather fall into a realm of the expected. Creative and cute, it did nothing more than entertain me. If pure and simple entertainment is what you are looking for, please pick this book up. It has everything that a middle school girl would want out of a book...

This books is my most recent 5 star read. I had a lot of people recommend it to me, but I was still a bit skeptical. It's not that I didn't expect to enjoy it, it is simply that I did not expect it to introduce me to anything new. That mentality stuck with me for the majority of the book. I thought I had it all worked out from the first page. I have read a lot of books, I have analyzed and studied plots, and I have always prided myself with my ability to predict the direction and manner of a book, and to an extent I was successful. However, the path that the author chose to realize the end was not what I had thought it would be. Characters fell in and out of grace. I felt the vexation and strains of every character because I kept getting thrown off by all of the little plot points. I may have gotten ulcers from this experience, but the good kind that remind you that you're still alive and feeling. Sage is a butt, but I love him. The main character is ridiculously ...

While I did not like this book as much as "A Court of Thorns and Roses", also by Sarah J. Mass, I still recommend it. I am learning that one of this author's strongest points is knowing when to begin a a novel. She starts in the middle of the beginning and gets to the point. Also, her books flow so well that they are easy to read in a day. They are never confusing or over your head.  This book in particular is unique and I cannot decide if I think Celaena is neurotic or the most relatable heroine ever. She certainly displays a few of the ticks one would expect in a traumatized child assassin. This is not a negative, in fact it makes it all so much more real.  My major complaint about this book is simply that I did not believe the romance between Dorian and Celaena (and I am wholly devoted to team Chaol). There is variation in the characters and they all had so much depth, except for Dorian. I have been informed he does improve in later books. In fact, I h...

To begin, this is by no means a "YA" novel. I am surprised that the publishers would market it as such. While I am not offended by the content as I am an adult, I am frustrated because I almost had my 13 year old little sister read it before me and she is definitely not old enough for what occurs here.  I'm OK with novels like Graceling or The Blue Sword or even Fault in Our Stars that do contain sexual scenes and believe they are appropriate and healthy for a young audience. I say this to illustrate that my opinion is not based on an exaggerated sense of prudery.  BE WARNED: This book contains fairly explicit sexual scenes. Not extensive, but enough that this novel is actually New Adult. That aside, I adore this book! I have a long held love affair with fractured fairytales and am forever looking to discover a new twist on one of my favorites. Everything from the name Feyre to the complications that arise with Rhys fit into the world that Sarah J Maas creates.  ...

I am not the kind of person who will reads the books synopsis before starting it. In order my priorities in choosing books are: 1. Author Style 2. Friend Recommendation 3. Popularity 4. Teacher Recommendation 5. Author 6. Cover 7. The Synopsis (always my last resort) Given my dislike for spoilers, I downloaded Rebel Belle  on my phone and finished listening to it in 2 days. I had no idea what to expect, but it certainly was words like "paladin" or "oracle" being calmly discussed in a classy southern drawl. I did not expect heels to become weapons or for me to be furious when an opportunity to break the enemy's neck is lost. I am not a violent person, and I do not like violent books. And while there was fighting, I was never disturbed by it. It is kind of like how the main character refuses to use the "F" word (which I much appreciated). There is an air of class thrown over the whole thing and you come out wondering if you want to move to the...

I saw this book all over book social media and wondered if it was good as everyone was saying. It seemed like a stereotypical contemporary young adult fantasy novel. I kind of did not want to read it and waste my time on something I had read before in the myriad of other novels that fall under the same genre. Oh, I was very wrong. I fell in love with this book partially because it was like nothing that I had expected. It began slow and a bit sluggish at moments. There were facts and moments I didn't understand and it all seemed to be a bit surreal. I was uncomfortable with the erratic pacing of the book and wondered if I should just stop. If you feel this way, I encourage you to do what I did and not stop. IT is a lot less fantasy, and more character development and deep mental exploration. The magic naturally flows in and out of the world and every piece miraculously falls into place. The characters are real. They are gritty, they keep secrets from each other, and they a...

I originally bought this book for its exquisite cover and title. It looks so interesting, morbid, and beautiful at the same time which fits perfectly into "my type". The slow-witted person that I am did not recognize the name of one of my favorite authors, Jennifer Donnelly. Her Tea Rose trilogy also comes highly recommended by me. Now, why does this book warrant five stars? First, the female lead is perfectly human, but still spunky and a strong feminist. Jo is the only child born to wealthy blue-blooded parents in the middle of the most fashionable part of New York. From the beginning you can see that she knows there needs to be a change. She was not meant for the life of leisure and breeding that the other girls her age are so eager for. Soon she is faced with the mysterious death of her father, confused by the differing accounts of his past, Jo begins to dig. Donnelly loves portraying strong females with ambition and passion. However, Jo is a bit different from ...

In all of literature there are hundreds of genres. Every person finds their little cubby-hole filled with familiar sights and sounds that lulls you into a deep trance that doesn't end until the book is closed. Fractured fairytales are my little nook. I have heard people ask me if I feel like I'm reading the same book over and over, but it has never felt that way to me. To me I get to step into someone else's childhood home and explore a bit. I think most of us have pretended to be some fictional character at some time or another. I have gone through Madeline, Belle, Cinderella, and so many other beloved characters, but what brought the most fun was infusing those characters I so admired with my own personality, dreams, and aspirations. Suddenly they all had older brothers and younger sisters, they were forced to go to school, or they had powers stolen from another magical tale. Authors who can successfully write a fractured fairytale are masters in my mind. As I sai...