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River Sing Me Home
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We whisper the names of the ones we love like the words of a song. That was the taste of freedom to...
Historical fiction Literary fiction Family Colonialism Slavery Caribbean
I Know Her Name: a poetry book from the pages of You Won't Know Her Name
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In the sixth grade, a girl’s life was turned upside down by a series of horrific bullying events. ...
poems poetry poetry collection bullying teen teens
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Witchfinder's Sister in Books
Mar 15, 2018
<i><b>I think now that to be close to someone can be to underestimate them. Grow too close, and you do not see what they are capable of; or you do not see it in time.</b></i>
<i>The Witchfinder’s Sister</i> is based on true life witch hunter Matthew Hopkins that grew to fame during the English Civil War around East Anglia, hunting and killing “witches”. This book isn’t non-fiction, it’s fiction based around non-fiction! I love these sorts of books that create their own stories from something that was very much real. Not only does it make for good reading, they also bring in some true history facts, so you’re being educated on the subject as you read.
High praise goes to Underdown for this novel. I feel like historical fiction can be hard genre to get right, and considering this is a <i>debut</i> novel, I’m amazed at how well put together and beautiful this has turned out to be! I love reading historical fiction, every once in awhile, and this is the sort of book that keeps my love for the genre burning.
The writing in this novel was haunting and beautiful. Nine times out of ten, it was exactly as you would have imagined the 17th Century to be, but I felt there were a few slips that made the book feel modern. For example, would a lady in 1645 say the phrase <i><b>“shitting herself”</b></i>? Correct me if I’m wrong, but that feels like a reasonably modern phrase to me.
I loved our main character, Alice. Me and my mum were talking about historical fiction novels and how we find it hard to understand why women make the decisions they make in these books, because we’re so used to having some equality and independence. But I noted that in this book, even though Alice is inferior to her brother and his counterparts, she is still a risk taker; going against her brother's wishes & sneaking around. I liked that she was strong and a little rebellious, it was so much easier to connect with her because of this.
On the other hand. I <i>hated</i> Matthew. He was a despicable character. I can rarely hate a character in a book, even if I’m supposed to. I tend to find the good in them at some point, or have some sort of sympathy for them, but I absolutely despised Matthew. Well done to Underdown for creating such a hate-inducing character. It’s quite a hard feat, but she managed it perfectly. The same goes for Mary Phillips.
The tension was built so well in this novel, you could feel the mystery growing and growing with every page and I loved it! Though the story moved reasonably slowly, the book was still absolutely riveting and I found it extremely hard to put down when I knew it was time to get some rest.
I am so, so excited to read more from Underdown. This was an amazingly well put together and researched.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.</i>
<i>The Witchfinder’s Sister</i> is based on true life witch hunter Matthew Hopkins that grew to fame during the English Civil War around East Anglia, hunting and killing “witches”. This book isn’t non-fiction, it’s fiction based around non-fiction! I love these sorts of books that create their own stories from something that was very much real. Not only does it make for good reading, they also bring in some true history facts, so you’re being educated on the subject as you read.
High praise goes to Underdown for this novel. I feel like historical fiction can be hard genre to get right, and considering this is a <i>debut</i> novel, I’m amazed at how well put together and beautiful this has turned out to be! I love reading historical fiction, every once in awhile, and this is the sort of book that keeps my love for the genre burning.
The writing in this novel was haunting and beautiful. Nine times out of ten, it was exactly as you would have imagined the 17th Century to be, but I felt there were a few slips that made the book feel modern. For example, would a lady in 1645 say the phrase <i><b>“shitting herself”</b></i>? Correct me if I’m wrong, but that feels like a reasonably modern phrase to me.
I loved our main character, Alice. Me and my mum were talking about historical fiction novels and how we find it hard to understand why women make the decisions they make in these books, because we’re so used to having some equality and independence. But I noted that in this book, even though Alice is inferior to her brother and his counterparts, she is still a risk taker; going against her brother's wishes & sneaking around. I liked that she was strong and a little rebellious, it was so much easier to connect with her because of this.
On the other hand. I <i>hated</i> Matthew. He was a despicable character. I can rarely hate a character in a book, even if I’m supposed to. I tend to find the good in them at some point, or have some sort of sympathy for them, but I absolutely despised Matthew. Well done to Underdown for creating such a hate-inducing character. It’s quite a hard feat, but she managed it perfectly. The same goes for Mary Phillips.
The tension was built so well in this novel, you could feel the mystery growing and growing with every page and I loved it! Though the story moved reasonably slowly, the book was still absolutely riveting and I found it extremely hard to put down when I knew it was time to get some rest.
I am so, so excited to read more from Underdown. This was an amazingly well put together and researched.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.</i>
Jenn (4 KP) rated American Gods in Books
Jul 9, 2017
If you're a Mythology fan, this is an excellent book
When you enter the world through Shadow's eyes, you go from something simple like being recently released from prison to something much more explosive (discovering the world is much more complicated than you thought. All in all, it is a great fiction for someone that likes drabs of mythology, intricate character development, and throw backs of history.
Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated Survivors in Books
May 20, 2018
I have had this book on mt 'list' for awhile. It was worth the wait. It mixed two of my favorite genres of dystopian and lesbian fiction together. It was well researched and written. The characters were realistic and for the most part likable(there were a few you wanted to slap). The ending could have been better or another book could be written to continue the story. It just left me wanting more which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Forbidden Planet (1956) in Movies
Feb 19, 2019
One of the original sci-fi classics
Up there with the original War of the Worlds as an original science fiction classic.
The art direction, look, feel and musical score of the film are amazing even by today's standards. Ok some of the special effects have not aged well, but it doesn't take away from the foreboding and interesting adventure.
Watch a brown-haired Leslie Nielsen do battle with the Krell alongside Robby the Robot.
The art direction, look, feel and musical score of the film are amazing even by today's standards. Ok some of the special effects have not aged well, but it doesn't take away from the foreboding and interesting adventure.
Watch a brown-haired Leslie Nielsen do battle with the Krell alongside Robby the Robot.
Smashbomb (4687 KP) created a post in Friends of Smashbomb
Mar 6, 2019 (Updated Mar 6, 2019)
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Seventh Day (A.D. Chronicles, #7) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
The latest entry in their Biblical historical fiction series returns us to the last year of Jesus' life as everyone seems to be plotting against him. But when Lazarus gets caught up in the plot, what will happen? I enjoyed this book much better then the last one, but it's constant switching from first to third person wasn't handled well.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-seventh-day-by-bodie-and.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-seventh-day-by-bodie-and.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Inspiring, informative and easy to follow.
Christopher doesn't hold any punches, he gets right down to it with step by step instructions for each part of the process making it sound very easy to do. You would have thought that more people would do it. He doesn't however go into the fiction genre, he just goes through information books but the publishing process would still be the same.
Anybody even remotely interested in self publishing should read this book and follow its steps.
Anybody even remotely interested in self publishing should read this book and follow its steps.
BeccaMcFly (5 KP) rated Mission Earth: Invaders Plan in Books
Jul 23, 2018
Cheesy humor (1 more)
Catchy storytelling
Wonderfully Cheesy
I started this book not knowing what to expect, rather expecting not to like it. I was more than pleasantly surprised by how enthralled I became. This book is satire science fiction at its finest. The story is amusing and quick paced. It will keep you going page after page wondering what will happen next. Though some parts are given away early in the book, Hubbard finds a way to make the known events interesting.