Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (5000)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

ClareR (6054 KP) rated The Woman in the Wallpaper in Books

Oct 14, 2025  
The Woman in the Wallpaper
The Woman in the Wallpaper
Lora Jones | 2025 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Woman in the Wallpaper by Lora Jones is set around the time of the French Revolution.

Sofie and Lara Thibault, along with their mother, move from Marseille to work in a wallpaper factory near Paris after he violent death of their father. The Oberst factory provides them all with a job and Josef Oberst becomes friends with the sisters.

A marriage and the Revolution see an end to the friendship.

I loved all the historical details around the Revolution, what it was like to work in a wallpaper factory, and the differences between the workers and the aristocracy. I could feel the tension radiating off the page, building to its incendiary, and very sad conclusion. I thought the character- and world-building were excellent, and I even felt some sympathy for the awful, aristo wife of Josef.

It’s a fabulous addition to stories set during the French Revolution.
  
40x40

ClareR (6054 KP) rated A Little Trickerie in Books

Nov 23, 2025  
A Little Trickerie
A Little Trickerie
Rosanna Pike | 2024 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Was this on the Women’s Prize 2025 short list? Well if it wasn’t, it should have been. Top tier historical fiction, in my opinion. There’s a real sense of time and place – medieval times weren’t nice or easy to live in. Born a vagabond, orphaned and left to fend for herself, Tibb has an uncanny ability to fall in with people who will (largely) help her. Namely Ivo, who she meets shortly after the death of her mother, and some of the people in a travelling group of minstrels. Tibb is a truly wonderful character: she’s bold, adventurous and always makes the best of what she has. She hasn’t let the world turn her into a bitter, hateful person, and let’s just say that the world has had plenty of opportunities to do that! The narrative voice is so different from what I’ve read/ listened to before. Just perfect!
  
40x40

Sensitivemuse (246 KP) rated The Sworn Virgin in Books

Sep 28, 2017  
The Sworn Virgin
The Sworn Virgin
Kristopher Dukes | 2017 | Romance
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great historical detail, but falls short
So what I really liked the most about the book is the historical background and aspect. It’s rich in detail and sheds a light on the customs in Albania. I loved the descriptions of the setting, the clothing especially and how family life was at the time. Despite that Eleanora lived differently from others in the village, traditions are deep rooted, strong and followed to the exact detail. It’s all about maintaining family honor and if disgraced, the way to gain it back is likely with someone killing the other from the rival family that did you wrong. It’s pretty harsh and during that time doesn’t give much voice to women in general, but Eleanora’s personality is strong and admirable even though she’s pretty much a daddy’s girl (which helps her let her be who she wants to be).

The first half of the book was great and got the reading going pretty quickly. It wasn’t until the last third of the novel where things bog down and I was afraid of this: the moment the ‘man of the her dreams’ came into the story. Then I was instantly reminded as to why I hated “Memoirs of a Geisha” so much and this mirrors it. Holy mother. The guy was the sun, moon and stars for Eleanora. I kind of get it after what happened to her dad but for crying out loud I was rooting for Eleanora for taking the vow and being strong. All it takes is an Adonis to break that all down. Eleanora then takes a complete 360 and becomes a mooncalf.

I lost admiration after her treatment of Meria. I get it. Meria shouldn’t have done that nonsense because she’s all obsessed with family honor and had Eleanora’s best interest even though it was far from beneficial. I thought her treatment was excessive to the point of abuse and cruelty and I felt like jumping in and giving Eleanora the beat down for her stupidities.

Then Eleanora’s mood swings go from pity party to guilt and goes back and forth for what seemed like the entire last third of the novel and it got tiresome to read. You know Eleanora, you could have solved all this if you JUST. TELL. HIM.

And when she does. Your patience is done with the book and depending how you found the book you either breathe a sigh in relief or roll your eyes because it took about 50 pages to get Eleanora to smarten up and the book would have ended sooner than later.

I liked the book at first, but it just didn’t hold it for me. The pity trips, and the self torment Eleanora goes through is just too much and made up a good half of the novel. I wish it could have been better because the historical aspect was excellent.