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    Life Of Caesar

    Life Of Caesar

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    On the 19th August, 14 CE, 767 years after the founding of Rome, nearly exactly 2001 years ago, the...

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ClareR (6037 KP) rated Medea in Books

Nov 23, 2025  
Medea
Medea
Rosie Hewlett | 2024 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
We’ve all heard the story of Medea, and Rosie Hewlett has decided to tackle it from a different angle. History and stories of the time, written by men, aren’t particularly kind to women - especially when the woman in question is clever and has knowledge that the men don’t have. That’s why these powerful women in history and stories were portrayed as evil or as witches (and sometimes both).

Medea is shunned by her family because of her magic, so when the ever-so-attractive Jason turns up with an exit plan, Medea decides to help him escape and take her with him. She’s obsessed with him: he pays her attention, and she’s never had anyone pay her attention in a good way before. But as his ardour wanes and he realises that Medusa is a liability, he cheats on her in a big way - and Medea is enraged. She will have her revenge.

I don’t blame her.

I liked that we learn her motivation for her radical actions - and I empathised with her. The first person narrative certainly helped with that. I didn’t agree with how she went about her revenge, but it was effective 🤷🏼‍♀️. You don’t often read about Hekate, either. I’m hoping Nikita Gill’s new book will sort that out (and I have it on my kindle to read!).

This is a dark story. Medea is complex and flawed, but at the same time, she’s so interesting to read about. I’d really recommend this book! Female rage is always good to read about 😉
  
The Secret Keepers
The Secret Keepers
Trenton Lee Stewart | 2017 | Children
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
he Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Steward is an adventure that focuses on 11-year-old boy named Reuben who lives in Lower Downs which, is one of the poorer areas of the city of New Umbra. Reuben's father died when he was a baby and his mother works two jobs to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. Reuben spends his days exploring the city, keeping watch on various inhabitants of the neighborhood while his mother is at work.

While Reuben wanders around the city the reader learns about the politics of the city. The reader learns about a mystery man known as "The Smoke" who keeps the city under his thumb. As years pass "The Smoke" has reached a level of influence of those who have control. "The Smoke" has a spies that are referred to as "The Directions" by Reuben and others in the neighborhood. The spies go out in groups of your and have a specific direction in which they go in order to keep watch. One of Reuben's many games is to from "The Directions" where he is still able to observe them.

Reuben discovered an alley with two buildings. He climbs the buildings he discovers a small box engraved with a name and containing an intriguing watch. He looks at the watch and thinks perhaps he could sell it to help his family. As he tries to find a potential buyer, Reuben learns that "The Smoke" has been searching for a similar watch for many years. Reuben begins messing with the watch and finds an unexpected secret. The watch has a temporary but amazing power. "The Smoke" learns that a boy has found the watch and sends "The Directions" to find Reuben .

Reuben sets out to find the history of the watch and see what he can learn about its previous owners. His search leads him to the Meyer family who has a multi-generation secret story around the watch. The youngest member of the family, Penny, becomes a good friend to Reuben and he convinces him to bring her along. Her older brother Jack finds out about their plans and attaches himself to the adventure to try and undermine "The Smoke" and his hold on the city.

The pacing of the story is methodical and builds on itself as the story progresses. The book is split into three parts. The first part focuses on Reuben in the Lower Downs and his search through New Umbra to learn more about the watch. The second involves his trip where he meets the Meyer family and learns the history of the watch and then formulates his plan to take on the Smoke. The final part involves his plans and the confrontation with the Smoke. The characters and story is interesting and engaging.

I recommend this book to middle grade or YA readers. Be prepared for intriguing and engaging twists and turns to take you down both predictable and unpredictable roads and leaving you with a number of thoughtful questions to consider.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

I received this books from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
  
The Diary of a Young Girl
The Diary of a Young Girl
6
8.2 (52 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Diary of a Young Girl
We have all heard about or read this book. I remember reading it in high-school as a project. And since I never had written a proper book review, I decided to read it again.

I went to the library, and they only had the short Penguin version, with the most important diary entries of Anne Frank. It is only 65 pages. So, I decided to also grab another book – The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank by Willy Lindwer, so I can write a full overview.

This is a diary of a young girl, and she was writing these stories during two years of hiding. Anne Frank and her family are Jews and they live in The Netherlands. After the Germans invade, many people are captured and go to designated camps. A few manage to escape and go into hiding. Anne’s family hides in her father’s office.

If you are reading this diary, without knowing anything about history – this could be a happy story. These diary entries are filled with love and hope, dreams of a young girl, beliefs, opinions, descriptions of her first crush and planning a future.

But this is not a happy story. This girl doesn’t get the chance to grow up. This girl doesn’t get the chance to experience freedom, and live to get to know her grandchildren. This is a sad story of not just Anne Frank, but all these people that have gone through that painful journey.

While this book deserves to be read by every person, and this history needs to keep being told many years after us, I feel the need to make a proper book review.

This is not a well-written book, with a great plot and amazing description. So based on that, this doesn’t stand up to the standards. But this book has a meaning that makes up for all the amateur writing. After all, this was a teenager writing it, without even knowing this will someday be shared with the world.

To all of you that haven’t read it yet – I highly recommend it. If you don’t want to go with the long version, read the short Penguin one, like I did.
  
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ClareR (6037 KP) rated Brotherhood in Books

Apr 2, 2019  
Brotherhood
Brotherhood
David Beckler | 2019 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Byron is called home to Manchester by his panicked teenage nephew, Philip, when he becomes embroiled in the murder of one of his school friends. Philip is adamant that he is innocent, and Byron believes him. Unfortunately, the murdered boy has a rather dangerous family, and there is history between the leader of this family and Byron.
Byron is helped by his friend Adam, who was in the Marines with him, and they try to solve the murder to hopefully exonerate Philip.
I really enjoyed this book. Byron and Adam seemed like really nice people, believe it or not, even though they knew how to handle themselves and there was consequently a fair bit of violence!
There was the added interest and/ or complication of an African child soldier who had been adopted by a British couple. I really felt very sad for him as I read his flashbacks; he had led an awful, violent childhood.
This looks as though it’s the start of a really good series. I liked that Byron and Adam appeared to have an equal status in their little team, and the police officers and procedures all seemed genuine to me (but then I’m not a police officer!). It was such a fast, exciting read, and I really did gasp out loud a couple of times whilst I was reading! I’ll be interested to see where this series goes next.
Many thanks to Sapere books for my copy of this book, which I hope I’ve fairly reviewed!