Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

My rating: 3 of 5 stars How I got it: I own a copy...

Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful; too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.

3.5 Rating...

Okay, so when I finished this book I didn't know how I felt about it. There are some massive pros and cons that I would love to get into, but then I just hard a hard enough time deciding if I liked it or not. I decided to let it mellow in my head for a wee bit, and as time wore on, for some dumb reason, I actually started to enjoy it. But not love it.

The writing is probably my biggest pet peeve. It wasn't very well developed. Some chapters were completely unnecessary, the dialogue was wobbly, and there was just this odd sensation of the author rushing through important parts. She'd drop a sentence to cover one complex action. I don't know if I was reading it too fast (I read pretty fast), but a couple of times I was sure the author had made a slight error in where characters were standing, etc... Plus, a few odd plot questions I had...


I had a hard time getting to believe her characters, especially the main character, which is the last thing I ever want to experience in a book. Eventually, and by some miracle, things began to pick up in the book and for the characters and, tada, I didn't hate them anymore. I really want to remark on the authors attempt, and fairly good job, at re-writing fae lore.

By the end of the story I was having fun. It wasn't edge of my seat, hold me breath, can't put it down even for a moment fun, but it was fun. I liked the witticism that the book came with, and how, with time, it grew on me a little more. When I finished it I didn't hate it the way I was sure I would. And a small aprt of me is actually interested in reading the rest of the series.

So yeah, it was... fun, :)

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



How I got it: Borrowed from a professor.

"The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin." So begins Memories of My Melancholy Whores, and it becomes even more unlikely as the novel unfolds. This slim volume contains the story of the sad life of an unnamed, only slightly talented Colombian journalist and teacher, never married, never in love, living in the crumbling family manse. He calls Rosa Cabarcas, madame of the city's most successful brothel, to seek her assistance. Rosa tells him his wish is impossible--and then calls right back to say that she has found the perfect girl.

Take a part of society that is usually frowned upon. And when I mean frowned upon, I mean it’s a FELONY in the United States. Like, oh, I don’t know, murder or child sex-abuse. These are pretty serious issues, right? Well, Mr. Marquez is really taking a casual approach to being a pedophile in his latest novel, published several years ago. While I usually love his work, this one left me feeling a little lost and scratching around for the moral of the story.

If you click on the book and read all about it on Goodreads, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean. A 90 year-old man can’t decide what else to give himself on his birthday except an adolescent virgin. Apparently a movie in town or quiet night at home just didn’t tickle his fancy. But instead of sleeping with her he quickly falls madly in love with her while she snores away in the bed beside him at the local brothel. What follows is a fairly short, but still head-tilting, narrative of what an old man does with his time after falling madly in love with a child.

Aside from the obvious “holy-crap-he’s-a-creepy-old-man,” this was not one of my favorite books by Marquez, writer of books such as Love in the Time of Cholera and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. His characters bothered me, which usually isn’t the case, and the story line was awkward and bumpy.

However, I shouldn’t say that no one should read this. If you appreciate his other works, or just have a place in your heart for Latin-American fiction, you shouldn’t detest it so much. Plus, the length means you can get through it in one sitting rather than pop a vein over a week.

Marquez is still one of my favorite writers. It’s sad to hear that he’s currently battling some medical issues, and I hope that this won’t be his final book. If so, I hope that future readers will turn to his earlier works first and love them for what they are.

Review: The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Yellow fog is swirling through the streets of London, and Sherlock Holmes himself is sitting in a cocaine-induced haze until the arrival of a distressed and beautiful young lady forces the great detective into action. Each year following the strange disappearance of her father, Miss Morstan has received a present of a rare and lustrous pearl. Now, on the day she is summoned to meet her anonymous benefactor, she consults Holmes and Watson.

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
How I got it: I own a massive leatherbound copy of all his books, :)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of my guilty pleasure authors. I have always loved Sherlock Holmes. Growing up I watched the black and white short movies starring Basil Rathbone. When the newer film came out with Robert Downy Jr. I celebrated the event by purchasing the massive hardcover collection from Barnes and Noble the very same day I saw the movie.

This novella opens with the feature character shooting up drugs. Oh yeah, Holmes is a huge drug addict. Apparently his life is so terribly boring when he doesn’t have a case that he needs to get high to get through the day. For those of you unfamiliar with the Holmes books, they’re told through the point of view of Sherlock’s roommate, Dr. Watson, who you come to find is probably the only living human being who can stand to live with the man.

The problem with Holmes is that it’s difficult to write a lengthy review on one of his novellas. They’re pretty self-explanatory, and I don’t know what else to say aside from telling you all to read it. The writing is wonderful, the characters are memorable, and the plot stands up to Doyle’s reputation.

I’ll have you know that I much rather preferred this novella as compared to the Holmes work done before hand, A Study in Scarlet. If you are going to read any of these works, which I hope you do, I suggest starting with this one. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading all of his pieces, but I know from those I have read, this is my favorite so far. I think you get a better appreciation for the characters and it’s a better representation for the rest of the works.

Holmes, if you’ve ever seen any of the films based on him, is a very fun character, the novellas are short enough to plow through in an afternoon, and the stories are exciting. All I can say is that there are no excuses for giving these books a try. It’s just enough to read between your books that are as thick as bricks, and really, who doesn’t love Sherlock Holmes?

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Review: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the first of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, 007 declares war on Le Chiffre, French communist and paymaster of the Soviet murder organization SMERSH.


The battle begins with a fifty-million-franc game of baccarat, gains momentum during Bond's fiery love affair with a sensuous lady spy, and reaches a chilling climax with fiendish torture at the hands of a master sadist. For incredible suspense, unexpected thrills, and extraordinary danger, nothing can beat James Bond in his inaugural adventure.

We all know James Bond. How can't you? Tall, handsome, sexy, brilliant, and an agent for the British Secret Service. Oh, yes, if you have been around in media at all for the past several decades, James Bond is no mystery name to you.

So, since I am a fan of Mr. Bond, what harm would come in reading the book from which he sprang? Nothing, I tell you! I buckled in for a wild ride, sat down and just... dug right into the first James Bond book...

And then I realized how bad the book is and why I'd rather watch the movies.

Honestly? Yes. Ian Fleming, the man who created James Bond, makes him lame. Really, really lame. I read a book about a man that was not special int he least and didn't invoke the least bit of shock or awe. Most of the book centered around a single poker game, a poker game that had no excitement at all and just created a large section of book in which I felt I might fall asleep. Wasn't Bond more fun than this? Had media made him exciting when Fleming, his creator could not?

And is it just me, or was Bond a pig? He put down women, when he wasn't thinking about having sex with them, and honestly didn't care whether or not Vesper lived or died. Beyond that, he didn't do much secret-agent stuff. He just looked like a fellow at the wrong place at the wrong time, who somehow struck it lucky in a few events, and then had to have a Russian bloke swoop in to save his life, and his man-jewels. He just didn't do anything that made me sit back and admire him.

I suggest this book for fans of Bond. If you can dedicate a day to him, then all the better. I read this book in a span of a few hours and was glad it didn't last much longer than that. I'm pretty sure there are more secret agent man books out there that would better satisfy me.

I'll end with a picture of Daniel Craig, though, being sexeh Bond...








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Review: The Hardest Thing to Do

The Hardest Thing to Do by Penelope Wilcock

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first of three sequels to the celebrated The Hawk and the Dove trilogy takes place one year after the end of the third book, in the early fourteenth century. A peaceful monastery is enjoying its new abbot, who is taking the place of Father Peregrine, when an old enemy arrives seeking refuge. Reluctantly taking in Prior William, the upended community must address old fears and bitterness while warily seeking reconciliation. But can they really trust Prior William?


In her fourth book in the series, Penelope Wilcock wrestles with the difficulties of forgiveness and the cautions of building trust. Taking the form of journal entries, her story will delight the imaginations of readers captivated by a time and place far distant from our current world. Her timeless themes, however, will challenge our prejudices today as we, along with her characters, are forced to ask ourselves, “What is the hardest thing to do?”

When I received this novel in the mail after winning it through LibraryThing's early reviewer's program, I was a bit worried. I knew that this book was going to be heavily based on religion, which didn't bother me, of course, but I was worried that it would be lacking depth and understanding.

I was very surprised when I started to get into the plot of the novel. The characters, although many, started to develop, and the story-line started to fit among a lot of similar novels in literature, only it was done differently.


The story follows a group of monks, settled in their lives, and beginning lent with a new abbot. All seems to be going according to plan, and, honestly, in an abbey, what else really can go amiss?


Then, a prior comes to their door, knocking, searching for hope and charity.

Only this prior is from another abbey, an abbey now infamous as the home of scoundrels and sinners. Needless to say, he is not welcome.


However, through the course of the novel, forgiveness is given, even when none thought it possible.

My only complaint is the author sometimes lost her grip with the 14th century language, but it wasn't anything that tripped me up.


A beautiful, masterful story, made so with the classic act of forgiveness shown under new light.




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