The Sphinx's Princess by Esther Friesner

This book- I liked it, don't get me wrong but it just didn't quite fulfill my expectations. Maybe that's because i'm used to reading so many steamy romance or action packed adventure novels with strong sections of dialogue and action lately that I needed to adjust to how quite uneventful this was. It is a book that is more focused on the details of the settings and the time period and the mythology and beliefs of the ancient Egyptian society- which I totally loved reading. 

The author did do a good job of keeping the book realistic by not having anything too over-dramatic or high fantasy but at the same time still linked in the gods,cultures and certain characters in history relating to the mythology. It is, I would say as realistic as a book about ancient Egypt can be because really any author that writes from the perspective of such a character as Nefertiti is really just guessing and improvising on the beliefs of those people and Friesner did a great job at that.

It doesn't seem to have much of a plot going on although i'm sure it will be greatly expanded on and put to conclusion in the second book. I'd say the story really picked up at about 4/5 into the book and then suddenly ended right in the middle of the some what only real action- a cliffhanger that didn't really make me want more. I will give it to the author for putting a real shocking twist to the character of Thutmose - just when I thought he'd turned into a sweetheart and I started to warm to his character when BAM! I too, like Nefertiti began to fall for Thutmose's charm and I was really annoyed and felt for Nefertiti when I realized it was all just a plot-scheme-act. Arghhh what a ****.

As for Nefertiti, I thought that throughout the book I would see her come of age and become a mature strong and defined character however there is nothing that really speaks volumes to me of her at all. she's too... hmmmm...bland for my liking. To me, with Nefertiti being such a grand and historic figure in history, she deserves to be a lot more definite, complex and developed. 

Despite my criticism I am still going to read the next book 'Spinx's Queen' to see if the tale will draw to a satisfying end. Especially since there wasn't really a conclusion to the end of this book. 

Also, one more thing that I would like to commend the author on and that is for the character Amenophis. He is a clumsy unattractive and a seemingly weak character but that is only his exterior. I love hot sexy attractive males in my fictions however the author did a grand job on avoiding having him inherit the "typical-male-protagonist syndrome"  and steered clear from having Amenophis become that common stereotype, yet still managed to make me as the reader, love him for who he is. Kudos to dat. 

The Edge Of Never by J.A Redmerski

Me a few hours earlier:
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT AJBFNSDLBTHAENRFSJHBGNM  DOES HE DIE IN THE END? IF HE FUCKING DIES THEN I AM NOT READING ANY MORE ... MY HEART CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT!!!!!! BLAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH I..I....I CAN'T :'( "

Okay just finished it. The whole book just blew me away. Since I've been reading this my bed time has been at 4/5 in the morning so i'm gonna take an early night and give this the amazing 4* review it deserves when I wake up. <3
P.s- Now I want to drop every thing, pack up a few things and travel around America! 

Okay, just wow. I can't stop thinking about this book now. It is easily one of the best I've ever read and if not for the authenticity that Wuthering Height's, in my opinion, has on fantastic literature, then it surely beats it. But this is contemporary and completely different so lets not go into that.  

Not all great prose consist of having characters that you will love but I really did love these two: Camryn and Andrew. It was beautiful following the journey of their relationship and of their travels. It was like being on an adventure and through reading this, I feel like I have experienced every single different form of love. I don't think I've ever laughed and cried so much from a book like a I have this one. It's definitely one hell of an emotional roller coaster and through the utterly heart breaking parts when I found my self struggling to keep composure and not burst out screaming in tears, I could barely comprehend that it's all just fiction. The characters are so believable, the scenes are brought to life by the authors writing style and there is so much raw emotion. That's how realistic this book is and that's why I love it so much; because it's a possibilty. 

Also, if you haven't yet read this and expect it to be YA then THINK AGAIN. This is NA stuff and I love this genre now! The sex scenes are just far too juicy and erotic for that and a lot of the themes are too complex to be light- not that I'm complaining. :) As a matter of fact, I let my friend read an extract from the 2nd sex scene and she said it's a whole lot more intense and dirty than Fifty Shades of Grey! Don't get me wrong, the book is not about sex and is incomparable to Fifty Shades however I just had to get that out there. Right now I really just want someone else who has read this, to talk about it with. 

I will not give away any hints or spoilers at all because it's such an effective and exciting read that no one really needs them. I also need to mention how the author did an incredible job on not just the full thing but especially the last 1/5 of the book and it's conclusion. I couldn't have hoped for a better ending. I was on edge, excited, crazy, happy and satisfied with how it all turned out, just when we thought there was no hope! :D  Beautiful story, beautiful realistic writing style and a beautiful ending. Please don't even hesitate to read this! You won't be disappointed, I assure you. 

Oh yeah, and you should listen to this classic while reading TEoN. 

The Sea Of Tranquility by Katja Millay

This book! This book!!!! I picked up this book because so many people on Goodreads have been recommending it to me and talking about how good it is and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I know it's only three days into the new year but I have a feeling this is going to be one of the best books i'll have read this year. 

Although not an action book, it has so much drama, suspense and tension between characters which is always exciting to read. The story was also very haunting and emotional as the author allows us to experience and explore characters through a mixed narrative of the different perspectives of Josh and Nastya/Emilia/Sunshine. So many times throughout the book, I felt like my heart was in my mouth and I just wanted to scream, laugh and cry all at once. 

The primary and secondary characters are well rounded and hold many personality traits to those of some people I know in college. This story is very realistic and lets us delve into the situation given. It also gives us a small insight of how effectively damaged peoples lives can get; how easily a person can be broken and ruined whether it's due to having been raped, assaulted, bullied or having lost someone they love. 

“People like to say love is unconditional, but it's not, and even if it was unconditional, it's still never free. There's always an expectation attached. They always want something in return. Like they want you to be happy or whatever and that makes you automatically responsible for their happiness because they won't be happy unless you are ... I just don't want that responsibility.” 

I love how slowly paced the plot is revealed throughout and how subtly we are given revelations and clues into the two main characters' past at the beginning of every chapter and throughout some intense dialogue pieces. The structure of this book is perfect. I like how the author used the concept of the "Russian Whore", the mysterious identity of Nastya Kasnikov to mask the pain and horror that lived beneath the facade. I'm sure many people who have been troubled or stunned can identify with Emilia. 

Despite the overwhelming sympathy I always felt for Nastya/Emilia, I couldn't help but  be inspired, at awe and annoyed with her. Her way of thinking and the things she did I rarely ever understood. Like for example, I could never just walk into a random boys garage all the time and watch him work at 1am in the morning! She is somehow bold, and I wish I was more like that. These are all signs of a well developed, deep character with flaws like every body else. 

Also, imagine how sweet it would be to have a beautiful boy call you sunshine? awwwhhh. Did I mention how addictive this book was? I started reading it at 5pm on Tuesday and continued reading through the night finishing it at 11am the following day. 

This review is a mess so I'm just going to wrap it up here and say I'd definitely recommend for a heart felt, disturbing and emotional read.

Love In The Time Of Cholera/El Amor En El Tiempo Del Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Since I read this a good couple of years ago, in fact in the summer of 2010, I can't really remember having much of an opinion on it concerning whether I liked the idea of the book or not. Its definitely different; very different from other books I've read. I will say that one thing I know I was definitely grateful for and found interesting to read was that of the perspective of an 70/80+ year old man who spent his life waiting for one woman whom he fell in love with at a young age. He waited all of his life, while constituting street whores for Fermina Daza until she became "back on the market again" fifty-one years, nine months and four days later exactly.

This book is about, though I hate to say it, unrequited and eternal love. I don't agree that the majority of this book really is about genuine true love- rather it is better suited to be classed as being about lust, obsession and infatuation.  

There are many things I hated about the leading character, Florentino Ariza, like how he was the cause of death to a few of his short term 'lovers' yet showed no remorse or regret what so ever, or like how he also was sleeping with the 13 year old school girl he was supposed to be baby sitting.  Come on, just think about how perverse that is- an OAP doing things like that to a little girl who then, through heart break, kills herself! It's just wrong. On the contrary, however, I do admire his determination, persistence, strong willingness and endurance but that is ALL I admire about this character. There simply are no other redeeming qualities about Florentino Ariza what so ever.

In conclusion, and in spite of the above reasons, I would recommend this as I think it is a deep and interesting book to read. It displays a great contrast to other books that contain typical 'Love' stories and allows the reader to consider love in many different forms other than the most common representations of it. Also, if you are interested in reading about equality and how women were treat and thought of during the turn of the 18th century, then definitely give it a try. Whether this book is enjoyable enough to consider reading it is really a question of what you as the reader expect of a great prose. If you think the main ingredient to a great story is a likable heroic main character then AVOID this book at all costs.

Readability factor -4.5*

Enjoyablilty factor- 3.5*

Motion Picture Soundtrack: 

(Credits: Todo de Shakira y Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
*Pienso En Ti
*La Despedida
*Hay Amores


-Alisha

Atonement by Ian McEwen

Hmmm... Where to start with Atonement. This book is so emotionally impacting on the reader, I feel that McEwen very cleverly did an amazing job on making the structure provide effective enough shocks and surprises without needing the book to be hugely action packed or quick paced. I like that McEwen didn't rush through book but took his time illustrating a beautifully detailed picture, in the mind of the reader, of the characters thought process and their surroundings. 

"...the damp patch on the gravel had evaporated. Now there was nothing left of the dumb show by the fountain beyond what survived in memory....The truth had become as ghostly as invention"

Despite this being written from a third person narrative, the author was successful in including a lot of familiar psychological thoughts. Like for example when Briony considers her existence and the existence of others and wonders whether their actions are real or if they just live through her imagination. 

“Was everyone else really as alive as she was? For example, did her sister really matter to herself, was she as valuable to herself as Briony was?” 

This, I think, is the pivotal point that primarily leads Briony to commit her crime and stick with that decision as she mulls over the water fountain scene she'd just recently witnessed involving her newly cast "characters".

In Parts One and Two of the book, I hated Briony. Although many argue she was just a little girl who didn't know the extent of what she was doing, which she really was, I still despised her. Excuse my unemphatic way of thinking but I really thought she was a pathetic annoying bratty little girl who loved being the center of attention and only thought about herself. I still think this, given the account of the older Briony, however *SPOILER ALERT* as this is a book within a book, we really don't know if this publication of the young Briony was purposely written by older Briony so that we dislike her, as a way of the narrators atonement OR if the older Briony was just being brutally honest about herself.  

I really could go on forever and ever discussing Atonement, but since this is just supposed to be a quick and snappy review, I have to say that Atonement is definitely an interesting and mind blowing emotionally impacting read. 

Based on it's enjoyability factor I'd give it a 4*.

-Alisha

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Wowowowoww. I LOVED the first book but loved this one even more!! Super hot character Tobias- what a dream. I love how Roth has developed the characters from fresh new comers to Dauntless unaware of the revolution of their world to heroes and heroins, especially Tris. Also, during the development of Tris's character through this book, I feel like 1/3 of the way through she kind of lost the plot and was slightly suicidal. That was quite sad but interesting. Of course, near the end she was okay; a brave, perceptive, smart and courageous soul. 

If you loved Divergent, it's definitely a good idea to follow the journey through on to the second book of the series. I found it to be even better than the first one, in fact so much so that I read it in one and a half days; I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. It is a lot more fast paced and you really get to see a different side to all of the characters involved, especially Tobias as he and Tris' relationship is put through strains caused by dishonesty and unloyalty. These two are both deeply challenged with the return of Tobias' long lost mother and loathed abusive father.

I'd love to know what other people think about these books and others so please feel welcome to post comments and let me know what YOU think.

Recommend for a 5* read. 

-Alisha.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

*Synopsis taken from Goodreads*

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

This book for me was so addictive! It was just what I needed to have on my lap to occupy me on one of those boring unproductive Sunday afternoons. Its a classic YA dystopian novel giving us an insight into what it would be like living in a different kind of world, a one that is enclosed into 7 different societies who live accordingly, to their personal beliefs and values in life. This made me wonder myself, what aspects of my life are most important to me and what type of faction I would choose to spend the rest of my life living in had I been a character in the story. Turns out, I'd be an Amity/Dauntless type'a girl. Oh! I digress...

Before reading this book, I was a little hesitant after reading so many different reviews all comparing it to the hunger games. Yes the book is narrated from a first person narrative and takes place in a possibly post apocalyptic 'broken planet' society, however, without going into too much detail, that is where the similarities end. 

The pace of the action was perfect. This book, which is part of a series of 3, is so addictive. It wasn't too over the top but also wasn't slow. I definitely recommend this for a 5* read to lovers of YA literature, Fantasy, Dystopian, Utopian and some Romance on the side. 

Also, the book cover is so pretty!

 

~Alisha

THG by Suzanne Collins *first review shortened*

A tiny review to shorten the reeaaaaally long one I written a few months ago.

 First ever dystopian book to have read. I loved the reality of this book; the poverty, anguish and way of living brought it to life. The wealthy and poor districts reflected our own world- the distinction between first and third world countries. Fabulously conceptual with a well thought out and researched plot, themes and ideas. Lastly, Katniss has to be my all time favourite female protogonistic kick ass heroin and Gale? *swooooon*

~Alisha

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

So boring!!! What the heck. By the end of the book, I still didn't truly understand the sole purpose/point and concept of the novel and finished it unsatisfied. I feel with a little more explanation of the whole idea, regulations and laws of the society, it would be clearer to understand. 
To me, Atwood wrote this a little too vaguely for my taste and didn't thoroughly explain enough leaving me as the reader having to guess at things I shouldn't have.

 Really, I don't know what to say because I do think this whole book is very conceptual and interesting however the way it is written made me want to have it finished it asap. Perhaps i'll revisit this book in the future when I might be able to identify with the protagonist a little more and may come back here with a different opinion. 

~Alisha

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Lesbian Victorians for the win! I loved all the twists, turns and revelations in this book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I like everything about Waters style of writing. The language she uses paints an accurate picture with her articulate visual descriptions and character depictions; there is something Dickens-esque about that. 

I also adored how Waters used a mixed narrative point-of-view to reveal undiscovered and shocking feelings and personality traits that the characters have. One other thing that I admire about the structure of this book is how it can trigger you to have so many mixed feelings and opinions solely on one character given the narrative from each of the main different individuals.

 I loved reading this last year and definitely think its time for a re-read. I'm not sure what Waters other books are like but this one was great. Also, is it me or is Gentlemen cunningly evil and scheming yet so devilishly attractive? Hurray for sexy evil-minded antagonists!

If you LOVE revelations, surprises,  the unexpected, twists and turns, ups and downs then I definitely recommend this book. Well done Waters, loved it! 5* Read. 

~Alisha

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I had to read this for my first year of A level English Literature; it was the first ever book I read by one of the Bronte sisters. I absolutely LOVED it. It was one of those prose for me, that kept making me want to read more and more and more to see where the development of Jane's relationship with Rochester would end up and follow the unimaginable journey of Jane herself. After reading the book, I traveled seventy two miles south of where I live to York where the Bronte sisters were born and raised, and visited the Bronte parsonage which made me realize how authentic the Bronte's books were. The settings of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre I imagined to be exactly like the location the Bronte's were brought up in; high in the moors with beautiful scenery and countryside.

~Alisha

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Having it be the first ever Austen book that I read, I found it a little difficult to actually become swept into the story because it took me some time getting used to Austen's writing style which at first overwhelmed me a little after being used to reading work by the Brontes. There are huge long paragraphs in the book which have absolutely no significance and are utterly uninformative; these kept leaving me unsatisfied and wanting for action, character dialogue and expecting some event to soon take place which didn't. I also found myself slogging through it without really being able to enjoy it; I'm not sure if this was due to me being in a hurry to finish it for my Eng Lit course and couldn't fully digest it's content.

Also, I found that there were far too many different characters that none of them were really that well developed, relevant or had much personality or purpose. Especially Mary! *yaaaawn* what a goddamn boring pointless character. Instead, most of the content in the book, unlike work by Dickens, seemed to be about pompous shallow and naive aristocratic nonsense.

 On the contrary, Austen was definitely an exception for women and writers of her time, and I would definitely like to read this book and other Austen books like Persuasion in the future when I will be able to fully take them in without having to rush to finish them.

Conclusively, I would not recommend the book but the film adaptation by Joe Wright- it is far more enjoyable. I am usually the opposite and much prefer the book to its motion picture, however Matthew Macfayden makes the dreamy Mr Darcy easy on the eye.

*Update*
Guys, fear not the Austen, embrace the Austen. This is P&P for dummies! 


And now you don't have to waste time reading it. Sorry for the spoilers ;)

~Alisha