Black Madonna: A Womanist Look at Mary of Nazareth
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The figure of the Virgin Mary comes loaded with baggage and preconceptions. She is usually depicted...
Religion Gender studies
Ethereal Custody: Anthologies
4.0
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Those born in an underground slum are deprived of love and severed from nature. As a last-ditch...
Catherine Breillat
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This is the first English-language book on controversial female director Catherine Breillat, whose...
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
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The history of nations is a history of haves and have-nots, and as we approach the millennium, the...
The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)
9.2
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The impossible has happened. The Lord Ruler is dead has been vanquished. But so too is Kelsier the...
Life's Captivity
4.5
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TWO-TIME AWARD WINNER: First Place "Religious Fiction" Next Generation Indie Book Awards, 2010 and...
Something Rotten (Thursday Next, #4)
8.5
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Literary detective Thursday Next is on a mission - and it's not just a mission to save the planet....
Charlotte (184 KP) rated imPerfect Magic (The imPerfect Cathar #1) in Books
May 11, 2023
A great start to this series and I can't wait to read the next installment. The transition between past and present is pretty good. You know exactly when it's happening with a cheeky side note to go with each chapter. I don't feel the weirdness that you sometimes get with going back and forth and I love that. The characters are well written with their own personalities that go well together considering backgrounds, age differences etc.
One character that gets me is Franc, (spoiler bad guy) the only way I can describe the way he speaks is gobbledegook.....it hurts my brain but it really makes him stand out.
Definitely a young adult read with some of the descriptiveness and combines magic and religion which is something different and intriguing.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky in Books
Dec 14, 2018
<i>The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky</i> by David Litwack is set in a world similar to our own, however there have been many wars as a result of religion and the people have separated themselves into believers and non-believers. Helena Brewster and Jason Adams live on the republic where the people rely heavy on reason and reject the supposedly irrational ramblings of the zealots who live on the “Blessed Lands”. One day a nine-year-old girl, Kailani, escapes from the Blessed Land and sails over to the republic where Helena and Jason find her. Kailani is immediately captured and questioned by the authorities that want to send her to a correctional facility to undo the brainwashing of the zealots.
In the meantime, as it is several months until her tribunal, Helena and Jason become Kailani’s legal guardians and take her to live at Glen Eagle Farm away from the main population of the busy towns. Kailani is loved and admired by the inhabitants on the farm, however there are people on the Blessed Land that want her back.
This is certainly an interesting story that explores a range of themes. For Helena there is the grief she is suffering as a result of the recent death of her father, and the feelings she has towards her mother whom she felt abandoned by. Between Jason and Helena there is also a developing romance as the two connect in their determination to protect Kailani. The most important theme, however, is that of the antagonism between the believers and non-believers. Those living on the Blessed Land want to indoctrinate everybody with their ideals about the soul whereas on the republic this is forbidden as they insist on living a life ruled through fact. As the story goes on certain characters begin to understand the need for both realism and religion. One person even suggests, “In our pursuit of reason, we’ve become as unreasonable as the other side.”
Kailani is a lovable character, which makes the novel a joy to read. It is interesting to compare how a child brought up under a strict religion innocently views the world in comparison with adults who have no faith what so ever. Although written for adults it is suitable for young teens to read too who, although may not understand the significance of the two different sides, are sure to love and enjoy reading about Kailani.
Merissa (13197 KP) rated Midnight Exposure (Midnight, #1) in Books
Dec 17, 2018
Our main female and male leads both come with baggage and flaws. Jayne is no weeping wallflower mind you. One of my favourite parts of the book was when she used her black belt karate on someone. She is not just going to sit there and be a victim. The supporting characters are all well rounded and develop really well throughout the book.
As for the 'occult' side of things - I thought this was remarkably well written and that's coming from a pagan. Too often in books, knowledge is mis-used or only given in part and the result can be something that makes me cringe as it dumps every earth and nature based religion in with satanism. The parts of this book that were revealing more about the villain and his motives etc, never painted the actual symbolism as black, instead just showing how it was being used for his purposes. I know I haven't explained it very well but trust me, Melinda Leigh did a great job. As for the reviewer who said "we get no clue what kind of religion this is", I suggest you take a re-read as it is written plain as day.
Loved this book and have started on book 2, Midnight Sacrifice. Recommended!