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Pets in a Pickle

Malcolm Welshman

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Foreword by Jim Wight, son of James Herriot and author of The Real James Herriot James Herriot...

ClareR (5996 KP) rated The Prophets in Books

Jan 5, 2021

The Prophets

Robert Jones Jr. | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I’ve agonised over writing something about this. How can whatever I write possibly do this book any justice? It’s beautiful, it’s haunting and it’s terrible. I don’t mean that it’s bad-terrible. I mean that it’s a book that I wish never had to be written. What is terrible, is mans inhumanity to man.
The story centres around the slaves on the Elizabeth Plantation (also known as ‘Empty’ to the slaves), and in particular, Samuel and Isaiah. They are betrayed by the other slaves, as if by revealing their love, it will make their lives safer. Of course this is not the case, as we see when we read the chapters centred around some of the other slaves. We learn about the inhumane treatment of the slaves by their immoral white owners (or toubabs, as they are called by their black slaves). I felt that the white people in this book had a mad, mentally unhinged quality about them: after all, how else could you reconcile treating human beings worse than animals?
I found the chapters written from the African people’s perspective, as they were free then captured and imprisoned, so interesting. It made them even more real to me. These were real people (as opposed to the animals that they were seen as by the slavers) with families, traditions, lives, loves and beliefs. The scenes on board the slave ships were harrowing.
It has taken me over a week to tackle this review. This book really affected me deeply, and there were many times that I had to put the book down and walk away. Then, I would feel guilty that I had the luxury of doing just that, unlike the slaves who lived every moment of their lives as some white mans possession to do with as he saw fit.
I can’t believe that this is a debut novel. The writing is beautiful, even in the most horrific moments. The magical elements add a suggestion of hope and the indomitable spirit of these people. And the ending is just perfection. I’m sure that this book will win awards - it SHOULD win - and I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to read it.
Many thanks to the publisher for granting me access to this book via NetGalley. It has been a privilege to read it.

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Becs (244 KP) rated Too Hot To Touch in Books

Oct 2, 2019

Too Hot To Touch

Lora Leigh | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Style: Extensive reading.

Point of View: Third person.

Difficulty Reading: Too Hot To Touch was a pretty easy read. I flew through the book but I also enjoy reading erotic romance books and tend to finish them in a short matter of time.

Promise: Lore Leigh promises a hot and steamy read that involves Breeds (like a shapeshifter) and humans falling in love (eventually…).

Quality: Too Hot To Touch was a quality read and in my book is worth a reread. Maybe not the type of book that you would reread over and over again as your go-to reread. But more of a when your craving a quick steamy romance.

Insights: So when I first received the book, I was like ‘Oh yea! This is going to be something like Twilight werewolves!!’ But as I started reading more and more I realized that it wasn’t. If that’s what you’re looking for, don’t read this. This is more of certain characters having an animal gene that doesn’t turn them into animals but gives them the ability to tap into the hunger and lust that animals get. Don’t get me wrong! It was still a very well written and catchy book. But if you’re not a fan of erotic romances, I would choose a different book.

Ah-Ha Moment: I mean any of the sexy scenes! But other than that not really a moment in the book that actually stood out to me.

Favorite Quote: “Every good girl loved a bad boy. It was a fact of life, a quirk of nature. Opposites attracts, and the badder the boy, the more attractive he was to that good girl who couldn’t help but be drawn to him.” – I mean it’s not wrong.

What will you gain: A well-written erotic romance that will leave you wanting to read Lora Leigh’s other novels.

Aesthetics: The cover was cool but didn’t really seem to go with the book. What I like most was how there were three novellas inside of the one book. Gave me a longer read instead of a simple, 100-page read.

“They were created, they weren’t born. They were trained, they weren’t raised. They were taught to kill, and now they’ll use their training to ensure their freedom.”