
The Trial of Lotta Rae
Book
On Halloween night, 1906, young working class Lotta Rae is attacked by a wealthy gentleman. She...
Historical fiction Suffragettes Trigger warning: rape World War 1

Becky
Book
It’s peak 90s London. Shoulder pads are out, crimped hair is in, supermodels are known by their...
Historical fiction Retellings

Rebels (The Reverians #2)
Book
Em returns to Austin Valley, but there are many things that don’t add up about her homecoming....
Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian

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.

Malcolm Of Earth
Book
They took him from his world to end a war on theirs… They got more than they bargained for. ...
science fiction sci-fi military sci-fi

Autumn and the Silver Moon Stallion (The Abandoned Trilogy #3)
Book
An abused, neglected filly is abandoned on a remote country road, left to die. A young woman...
Young Adult Animal Fiction Series

Mania
Book
What if calling someone stupid was illegal? In a reality not too distant from our own, the worst...
Speculative fiction

The Safekeep
Book
An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge -...
Literary Fiction Post WW2 Netherlands

Strait Lace (Loxley Hall Books)
Book
It is 1905. Edwardian England. Harriet Loxley, the daughter of a vicar and niece to a prominent...
Historical Fiction Women in History Suffragettes

Southern Today (21 KP) rated And I Darken (The Conqueror's Saga #1) in Books
Nov 7, 2017
Again, I did not like the voice of the reader for this novel. She was grating, could not do much variation of the voices and I wish she would not have tried, and was the reason I often considered stopping the track. And I have no idea how to spell any of the names without looking them up.
This novel, by Kiersten White, follows Lada and Radu, in the 1400s, in the Ottoman empire as insurances for the Sultan.
I wonder if, like many young adult series, this would have been better as a single book with the next being far in the future or following other characters during the same time frame.
If you enjoy war novels, historically-set novels, or stories of growing up in difficult circumstances will enjoy this.
Alright, SPOILERS BELOW, SPOILERS BELOW, PLEASE SCROLL FOR DISCUSSION there, that is out of the way.
So, this book covers a good lifetime, showing us the development, fully, of characters. Saw the gay man coming as soon as he was born, which is kind of sad. Why, why make the gay man beautiful? Why make it so obvious from the start?
Why have her fall in love with the future Sultan?
I wanted her, based on the description of the book, to be in her homeland more often than they are. The hatred between the siblings isn't what is odd, but what causes it. How Radu doesn't understand Lada's love towards him and what drives her. I do not understand it.
This book is also supposed to be a gender-bend of Dracula the Impaler. Which is interesting, because I did not figure that out from reading it. It is the correct time period, but gender bending DOESN'T WORK historically. I am sorry, it would be far to complicated to do that. It, it just doesn't work. You can write it and ponder what it would have been if one character was different. But not all. So, is that what this is?
I think I will be reading (or listening?) to the second book of this.
THIS VOICE IS TERRIBLE!
Alright, there. Little bits done