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Still Holding: A Novel of Hollywood
Book
Bruce Wagner has been hailed for his powerful prose, his Swiftian satire, and the scalpel-sharp wit...
Olive (1 KP) rated The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock in Books
Jan 27, 2018
Stunning prose (2 more)
Enjoyable plot
Interesting characters
This is the best book I've read in months, it immediately made my list of favorites on Goodreads and I'm sure that I'm starting to annoy people with my raving about this book.
Visually the book is a stunner and one you can definitely judge by its cover. It's rare to find a historical fantasy where the fantasy aspect takes more of a backseat. I love both genres but this was a perfect balance between the two. The Regency London setting rather than Medieval or Victorian was really refreshing as was the use of mermaids rather than vampires/werewolves/zombies/magic. I've read a few reviews where people complain that the mermaids are prolific enough considering the title but I think this is only the case if you enter it anticipating the focus to be mermaids. It's definitely a consistent theme from start to finish but it doesn't take center stage until the very end. If you go in expecting mermaids galore, you might be a little disappointed.
A lot of historical fiction written after the time it portrays attempts to emulate the formal language of the time and usually with cringe-worthy results. This book is an exception. The prose is lightly reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel and beautifully descriptive but not overly so. The plot isn't one you can guess from the first page and while you can make educated guesses, the journey there is full of delightful twists and turns.
Really though I cannot say enough about this book. The only word that seems to come close is 'sumptuous'. It's the sort of book you can easily reread because the enjoyment doesn't hinge on shocking plot twists or mystery and suspense. It was a sheer joy to read and I dreaded the ending from the very first chapter. I almost never reread books but this is one I actually look forward to rereading.
Visually the book is a stunner and one you can definitely judge by its cover. It's rare to find a historical fantasy where the fantasy aspect takes more of a backseat. I love both genres but this was a perfect balance between the two. The Regency London setting rather than Medieval or Victorian was really refreshing as was the use of mermaids rather than vampires/werewolves/zombies/magic. I've read a few reviews where people complain that the mermaids are prolific enough considering the title but I think this is only the case if you enter it anticipating the focus to be mermaids. It's definitely a consistent theme from start to finish but it doesn't take center stage until the very end. If you go in expecting mermaids galore, you might be a little disappointed.
A lot of historical fiction written after the time it portrays attempts to emulate the formal language of the time and usually with cringe-worthy results. This book is an exception. The prose is lightly reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel and beautifully descriptive but not overly so. The plot isn't one you can guess from the first page and while you can make educated guesses, the journey there is full of delightful twists and turns.
Really though I cannot say enough about this book. The only word that seems to come close is 'sumptuous'. It's the sort of book you can easily reread because the enjoyment doesn't hinge on shocking plot twists or mystery and suspense. It was a sheer joy to read and I dreaded the ending from the very first chapter. I almost never reread books but this is one I actually look forward to rereading.
Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot
Book
It is Sunday Times Bestseller. It is Book of the Week on Radio 4. "A beautiful book about a part of...
The Death of King Arthur: The Immortal Legend
2.0
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Book
A gripping retelling of the timeless epic of romance, enchantment and adventure, Peter Ackroyd's The...
ClareR (5854 KP) rated The Book of Joan in Books
Dec 13, 2017
I really wanted to love this. The storyline is right up my street: fantasy, dystopian, science fiction. It ticks all my favourite genre boxes. I liked it, but I didn't love it. As the story went on, I found that the time jumps just seemed to confuse me. How could the biological changes happen so quickly? Surely they would have had to have happened at least in utero, if not over generations? But it all seemed pretty 'immediate'. This is fiction, I know, and an author should be allowed to manipulate a timeline however they want to. I just felt a little lost! I loved the characters Joan and Christine: particularly Joan's 'superpowers' and connection to the Earth. The prose was beautiful to read in places and really descriptive. Also the poem at the end makes me curious to see if Yuknavitch will write more poetry, or indeed, whether she already has. I'd read it!
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Giovanni's Room in Books
Sep 4, 2017
This is one of those great works of literature where despite loathing the protagonist, the prose is so magnificent you can see past it - almost. It definitely reminded me of Nabokov's renowned tale Lolita where you detest Humbert Humbert, but it's still a masterpiece.
This is the story of an American David, set in the 1950s-1960s, who begins a tumultuous love affair with an Italian man in Paris, while deciding whether to marry his fiancee. He is arrogant, selfish, spoilt and horribly flawed to the point you just think he's more evil than misguided. He can't admit to himself that he is gay, but instead strings along everyone around him and says he's punishing himself. In the end, his lack of character destroys everyone around him including himself but in a very different way. Massively misogynistic at times and I'm not sure if it was the author's intention or a reflection of how he also sees women. Beautifully written nonetheless.
This is the story of an American David, set in the 1950s-1960s, who begins a tumultuous love affair with an Italian man in Paris, while deciding whether to marry his fiancee. He is arrogant, selfish, spoilt and horribly flawed to the point you just think he's more evil than misguided. He can't admit to himself that he is gay, but instead strings along everyone around him and says he's punishing himself. In the end, his lack of character destroys everyone around him including himself but in a very different way. Massively misogynistic at times and I'm not sure if it was the author's intention or a reflection of how he also sees women. Beautifully written nonetheless.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated When Lightning Strikes (1-800-Where-R-You, #1) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
I hate Meg Cabot. she is a terrible writer. she doesn't write sentinces, she writes fragments and then puts more fragments at the end to clear up what was perfectly clear in the first place. she leaves out things that are important. she doesn't describe stuff. her prose stinks. how on EARTH she became a best selling and popular author, i have no idea.
<b>but. </b>
i read the first book of her series here, "When Lightning Strikes," and seriously had to read the others. i still haven't read the last book, my library doesn't have it in right now, but this book got me hooked to a story that was written by (excuse me) a sucky writer. it was wild, weird, crazy, funny, and had some very creative twists in it. great story.
now if only she could learn to write. sentinces, i mean. (<-- example of what she does. i swear i don't write like that normally.)
<b>but. </b>
i read the first book of her series here, "When Lightning Strikes," and seriously had to read the others. i still haven't read the last book, my library doesn't have it in right now, but this book got me hooked to a story that was written by (excuse me) a sucky writer. it was wild, weird, crazy, funny, and had some very creative twists in it. great story.
now if only she could learn to write. sentinces, i mean. (<-- example of what she does. i swear i don't write like that normally.)
Prieblanda (25 KP) rated The Tattooist of Auschwitz in Books
May 17, 2019
Could be darker
The novel takes us back to the WW2 times, the times when concentration camps were running full capacity. And it lets us to get in a life of one of the prisoners at the biggest camps - the Auschwitz. Starting to read, you know beforehand what lies in path of the main character - Lale. Though the story itself happens in dark times (times I consider to be closest to dystopia humanity ever got to), Lale doesn't lose his optimism and it makes the whole story a bit more lighthearted. We don't really get much insight on some more gruesome things.
Summing up, there were some parts that I liked and there were a few that I didn't. But knowing it is based on a true story makes it a forgivable. I just wish the author put a bit more of work in her prose, to paint the images more vividly
Summing up, there were some parts that I liked and there were a few that I didn't. But knowing it is based on a true story makes it a forgivable. I just wish the author put a bit more of work in her prose, to paint the images more vividly
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books
Mar 2, 2018
A little too over the top
I think I completely lost the plot trying to follow this fairytale within a fairytale. A modern day version of a Brothers Grimm-style folklore, the story follows Alice, who is trying to find her missing mother, and discovers that all is not what it seems.
The main thrust of the novel asks whether Alice is a character in a tale herself? And if she can escape her fate by running away from her story. And while I can appreciate the author's creativity, there's very little character development and there appears to be a fair few loose ends. The prose is heavy in metaphors to the point that the first half seemed far too long.
While many have described the book as a dark and creepy fantasy, I think it may have been a little overhyped - it's more of a weird version of Alice in Wonderland. Interesting, but not for me.
The main thrust of the novel asks whether Alice is a character in a tale herself? And if she can escape her fate by running away from her story. And while I can appreciate the author's creativity, there's very little character development and there appears to be a fair few loose ends. The prose is heavy in metaphors to the point that the first half seemed far too long.
While many have described the book as a dark and creepy fantasy, I think it may have been a little overhyped - it's more of a weird version of Alice in Wonderland. Interesting, but not for me.
Anna Steele (111 KP) rated Noteworthy in Books
Jun 28, 2018
Singing Sharp and Mending Broken Hearts
Riley Redgate is an up-and-coming author and recent graduate of Kenyon College. In her second novel, her main character goes to an arts school and has never been cast in a show. To keep herself on her toes with competition, she goes undercover and auditions for an all-male a capella group. She never expected it to go so far. It reminds me of the anime Oran High School Host Club, with Jordan being a scholarship kid masquerading in an all-male group. I wasn’t sure if a capella would stand as well on the page as it did on the silver screen, but Redgate’s prose throughout the novel sparked my imagination so much that I wasn’t worried about missing the actual notes. Striving for a sense of belonging in an artistic and scholastic setting really hits home with me, as an acting major in college.