Sunday, March 30, 2008

A Great and Terrible Beauty By Libba Bray


Rating: 4/5


Review: This book made me think of The Craft while reading it. The only similarity, however, is the powers the girls were able to obtain. There is also the one girl who actually has all the power. I liked the gothic feel, the characters were interesting, and the story was good. I certainly plan on reading the rest of this trilogy.


Book Description: A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy--jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel.
Gemma, 16, has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left wi! th the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order.

PS I Love You By Cecelia Ahern


Rating: 5/5


Review: This isn't a book I would have normally picked out for myself, but I enjoyed it very very much. It wasn't depressing as one might expect, it being about a woman coping with her husband's death and all. It was actually quite uplifting. The characters were fun and interesting, and the story moved along at a steady pace. The writing style was a little bit ametureish, but it really didn't matter. The story was firmly in place and all the characters were believable. It didn't end quite how I expected it to, but that was fine.


Book Description: A novel about holding on, letting go, and learning to love again.
Now in paperback, the endearing novel that captured readers' hearts and introduced a fresh new voice in women's fiction — Cecelia Ahern.
Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Blood Memory By Greg Iles


Rating: 4/5

Review: This was a great book, but a little disturbing because of the subject matter. I didn't like Cat, the lead character, at first, but soon grew to understand her and respect her a little more by the end. The suspense was written perfectly, the characters were believeable, and the plot moved pretty steadily.

Book Description: Forensic expert "Cat" Ferry has a stellar reputation until a panic attack paralyzes her at a New Orleans murder scene. Praying the attack is a one-time event, she continues working, but when the same killer strikes again -- raising fears that a serial killer is at large -- Cat blacks out over the victim's mutilated corpse. Suspended from the FBI task force, Cat returns to her hometown to regroup. Though her colleagues know her as a world-class forensic odontologist, Cat lives a secret life. Plagued by nightmares, and deeply involved with a married homicide detective, Cat holds herself together with iron nerves and alcohol, using her work as a substitute for life. When some of Cat's forensic chemicals are spilled in her childhood bedroom, two bloody footprints are revealed. This discovery sets in motion a quest to piece together Cat's past -- buried memories that could tie her father's murder to the grisly deaths occurring in New Orleans in the present. For only by finding this remorseless killer can Cat save her sanity -- and her life.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Midnight Bayou By Nora Roberts


Rating: 5/5


Review: I loved this book! Oh my gosh, it was so good! You've got a little bit ghost story, a steamy romance, and the ineteresting scenery of New Orleans and the swamps of Louisianna. I pretty much consumed this one. The characters were great, the story moved quickly, and the history was intriguing. Don't miss out on this one!


Book Description: Declan Fitzgerald had always been the family maverick, but even he couldn't understand his impulse to buy a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans. All he knew was that ever since he first saw Manet Hall, he'd been enchanted-and obsessed-with it. So when the opportunity to buy the house comes up, Declan jumps at the chance to live out a dream. Determined to restore Manet Hall to its former splendor, Declan begins the daunting renovation room by room, relying on his own labor and skills. But the days spent in total isolation in the empty house take a toll. He is seeing visions of days from a century past, and experiencing sensations of terror and nearly unbearable grief-sensations not his own, but those of a stranger. Local legend has it that the house is haunted, and with every passing day Declan's belief in the ghostly presence grows. Only the companionship of alluring Angelina Simone can distract him from the mysterious happenings in the house, but Angelina too has her own surprising connection to Manet Hall-a connection that will help Declan uncover a secret that's been buried for a hundred years."

Blood Trail By Tanya Huff

Read: February 2008

Rating: 5/5

Review: This is the second book in the series, and it was very good. This one involved a family of werewolves who were being assasinated one by one. I loved the characters, and the mystery of who was doing the killing kept me on my toes. Henry and Vicky also get very intimate in this one, and Mike doesn't like it one bit.