The Romance of the Forest
Book
Set in a Roman Catholic Europe of violent passions and extreme oppression, the novel follows the...
The Queen's Choice
6.0
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Book
Her children or her crown France, 1399: The Duke of Brittany is dead and his widow, Joanna of...
Historical Fiction
Sharpe's Revenge
8.0
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Book
It is 1814. After a long and exhausting series of battles the British and Spanish armies are...
An Ignorance of Means
8.0
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Book
In 18th century France, women had few choices and little chance to shape their destiny. Within...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Children of the Siege (book 1) in Books
Feb 22, 2024
Book
Children of the Siege (Book1)
By Diney Costeloe
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nineteenth-century Paris is in flames, houses ransacked, streets barricaded. Most people are fleeing the ravaged city, but the St Clair family have made a fateful decision – to return to Paris from their house in the country.
As the horrors of the Commune and the ensuring siege engulf the St Clairs, little Helene falls ill and becomes separated from the family. Lost and alone, she must fend for herself on the war-torn streets.
This was a pretty decent read. I love historical fiction, this is set in 19th century France when war is raging as well as civil unrest we follow a family dealing with life and the changes war has brought on them.
From the Western Front to Salonika: A French Soldier Writes Home (1914-1918)
Book
The book's editor, Catherine Labaume-Howard, found 300 of her grandfather's letters in an old potato...
Coalitions
Tabletop Game
Coalitions is based on the series of conflicts known as the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
The n°1 Wine App - Wine Advisor
Food & Drink and Social Networking
App
Wine Advisor: scan, rate, share, and buy the best wines and Champagnes. Create your account on The...
Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated Bring Me Back in Books
Jun 5, 2019
I have to admit as much as I tried to avoid reading other reviews of this book, I soon discovered that to my horror, many people were in shock that this was not as good as her previous two books, and that kind of put me off reading it at first. However, I finally got around to reading it only to discover it’s not that bad! Now I kick myself for not picking it up before. haha!
There is, however, quite a contrast to B.A. Paris’ previous two books. I think the shocking end was a little unbelievable, although it was deliciously evil of the author to spring on us!
I also thought the ending then went on to ‘wrap up’ with a confessional letter revealing all, which went on for far too long and made the earlier shock ending fall a little flat afterwards.
The premise of the story is that Finn and Layla went on holiday to France but only Finn came back. The boyfriend Finn was a suspect for a while, but since Layla just went missing and no body was found the case was eventually closed due to lack of evidence.
But if Layla went missing in France, then who is sending Finn emails and leaving little Russian dolls all over the place – seemingly from her – twelve years later?
Not my favourite book by B.A. Paris, but I am pleased I read it. The mystery of who is messing with Finn is definitely worth finding out!
Cassie Osbourne (6 KP) rated An Officer and a Spy in Books
Nov 9, 2018
Towards the beginning, I was a little disappointed in the book. The writing style is brilliant and how faithful it is to actual events is great but in some ways, this is also its downfall. The conspiracy went on for years which makes the pacing very slow in parts and incredibly quick and exciting in others. All the characters in this book, even the tiny bit characters, were real people tied up in the affair; however, none of these characters has any real development until the very end and only for a short amount of time. As someone who favours character-driven story arcs rather than plot-driven ones, this was very frustrating for me to read as they all seemed to be very one dimensional (with the exception, perhaps, of Henry) and it doesn't really make any of them terribly likeable.
All that being said, I did very much enjoy the last two hundred or so pages where the pace really picked up and became exciting as everything seemed to come together rather than people sitting on files and information - but this is, of course, the nature of courtrooms and trials.
Although I probably won't read this book again, I am glad that I did as it introduced me to an interesting army conspiracy in France that I will definitely be doing more research in to.
Characters - 6/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Writing Style - 8/10
Plot - 7/10 (score majorly affected by pacing)
Intrigue - 6.5/10 (as above)
Logic - 10/10 (real events so difficult to score lower)
Enjoyment - 6.5/10 (again pacing and lack of character development)
Score average - 7.8/10