Tag Archives: female lead

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Posted on May 23, 2013 | 1 comment

I’ve seen this title coming through the library for a while and I’ve avoided it. I’m almost too embarrassed to tell you why, now that I’m neck deep in it and totally crazy about it. 
book coverOkay, with the truthiness now. The cover annoyed me. I don’t like that mask that the chica has on, and yes I understand what the mask is supposed to represent, but the mask is bad. Who did the art work on that one? Seriously? Es no bueno.

Otherwise though, great story. Extra super compelling. I love a punky kind of leading lady and a goth best friend. Hilarious duo those two, with really excellent dialogue.

The writing about the cities, especially Prague, was also excellent. I definitely felt a lot of wanderlust while reading this book, Taylor does a very good job of putting you right in the middle of a city (even one you’ve not yet visited).

There are only a couple of nagging problems with this story. I am always annoyed with angels. Sorry angel people, I know you love your angel fiction, but I think it’s dumb. Unless it’s in Supernatural, then maybe we can talk about it. I just don’t get it! Why are angels sexy now? Ugh. I’m so old I guess that we’ve run through the regular gambit of supernatural creatures and have to move onto celestial ones. Frankly the chimera were much more interesting, except…

UGH. Okay. I recently read this book, Revealing Eden. Have you read it? It’s not great. Anyhow, maybe I’m just feeling hyper-sensitive to this kind of thing right now because of the blatant racism in RE, but what is the deal with the bigotry in Daughter? Why does “high human” even have to be a thing? If I were a beast I would think that human forms would be less desirable – especially if my mortal enemy looked like a human with wings? So what’s the deal? It stands to reason that deer head would be much preferable to one that looked like the dudes I have spent my whole life trying to wipe off the face of the other-earth. Bah. I don’t know wtfbbq, but it’s something that really bugged me.

*sigh*

Okay. Aside from those couple of faults, this is a really fun read. The ‘verse that Taylor has created is a really excellent one and the mythos involved therein is really well thought out and has few holes (except for what is mentioned above). So if you’re like me and have been putting this title off because the cover annoyed you get thee to the library to check it out, dig in and enjoy!

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It’s still 2013, baby! Keep reading and stay uncomfortable!

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The Madman’s Daughter

Posted on March 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

the madman's daughter This is a great read. Super spooky and fast paced, it is thoroughly enjoyable for young people and adults alike. Shepard does a great job of hooking the attention of her reader, she sucks you in and makes the book incredibly difficult to put down. From the very first chapter I was totally riveted and couldn’t wait to find out what happens next. Great start to the trilogy, I can’t wait to see where Shepard goes with the story in part two!

After her father’s disgrace and her mother’s death Juliet makes due cleaning the medical school at night after the students have gone home. A far cry from the only daughter of London’s premier surgeon, but at least her father’s connections have afforded her this job.

Unfortunately, as a servant, she’s subject to the wandering hands of the less savory senior staff members. Unfortunately for those who cross her, Juliet is well-trained in anatomy and has little trouble rendering a wandering hand useless against further transgressions. Of course, protecting her virtue costs her her job, and would probably mean prison time if she couldn’t make herself scarce.

Thankfully Juliet has discovered an old diagram of her father’s in the possession of some young medical students. Tracking the diagram back to its source she finds that her childhood friend and family servant, Montgomery, is in London collecting things for none other than her father. Throwing herself at the mercy of Montgomery and his strangely misshapen companion, Juliet soon finds herself on her way to her father’s island.

What awaits her there is nothing she expected. Her father is cold, distant and more than a little mad. Now it seems like the very inhabitants of the island are a threat and Juliet doesn’t know who to trust. Can she make it out alive? Will the handsome and brooding Montgomery survive long enough to come back to London with her?

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Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Posted on February 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

This was a hard book for me to read. I feel sad just writing about it. Alice is a teenage girl who was kidnapped by Ray when she was about 10 years old. He snatched her from a school trip and kept her as a play thing for the next five years.

Alice is growing up though, beginning to look like a young lady instead of a little girl, despite her restricted diet and the pills Ray gives her to keep her from menstruating. He wants a new victim and he wants Alice to find and train her. Alice wants out even if that means sacrificing another child. She begins spending time at a near by playground, looking for her replacement.What follows is gripping, gut wrenching, and utterly surprising.

Living Dead Girl

This is a hard book for me to recommend. I don’t know who will like it. It’s not really a book you like, frankly. It’s a book that comes from a very dark place, and when you read it you go there too. This book may help readers who have suffered abuse, but it is so raw and visceral that it may also serve as a trigger.

That said, I still think it’s valuable. This book can be used to open a discussion on any of the following topics: kidnapping, abuse, sex, and rape. Talking with your readers and allowing them to ask questions and experience, through this book, Alice’s fear, may protect them in the future or help heal the past.

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Stay uncomfortable, keep reading.

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