Guest Post!! Book Review : A Song for Julia

Today’s book review comes from my first guest poster and one of my best friends in the world : Sara!! Sara is an amazing SAHM to two sweet little daughters and reads as much, if not more, than yours truly. She also happens to be one of the funniest people I know. Hopefully she will be posting regularly here at the Bookinista.

Title : A Song for Julia

Author:  Charles Sheehan-Miles

Publisher: Cincinnatus Press

Date Published: December 2, 2012

Pages: 376

Stand Alone or Series: Series, but you don’t have to read the first to read this one

Three Words: Romance, Mental Illness, Politics

Red Flags: some sexual situations, some language and sensitive political issues

The Blurb (taken from Amazon):
Everyone should have something to rebel against.

Crank Wilson left his South Boston home at sixteen to start a punk band and burn out his rage at the world. Six years later, he’s still at odds with his father, a Boston cop, and doesn’t ever speak to his mother. The only relationship that really matters is with his younger brother, but watching out for Sean can be a full-time job.The one thing Crank wants in life is to be left the hell alone to write his music and drive his band to success.

Julia Thompson left a secret behind in Beijing that exploded into scandal in Washington, DC, threatening her father’s career and dominating her family’s life. Now, in her senior year at Harvard, she’s haunted by a voice from her past and refuses to ever lose control of her emotions again, especially when it comes to a guy.

When Julia and Crank meet at an anti-war protest in Washington in the fall of 2002, the connection between them is so powerful it threatens to tear everything apart.

My Review:

Once in a while you read a book that just leaves you thinking (or accidentally expressing out loud and frightening your family) “Holy Crap!”  This is one of those books…in a very good way.

First off, I loved “Just Remember to Breathe” (the first book in this series), and this book was just as good, if not better. It deals with serious issues, but the characters are constructed so well that you just have to keep reading to find out what happens. It’s a story of loss of innocence, frustration, anger, hope, love and finally joy. The author is so talented in constructing a world that sucks you in, tosses you around, mesmerizes you and makes you wish by the end there was MORE.

Crank, the hero of the story, is awesome. He’s a talented bad boy musician with a rocky past and a complicated family life (let’s be honest, who doesn’t love that?!?!). But he and Julia just go so well together, even with their outward differences you can’t help but hope they work it out. It helps that he’s also hella hot. He’s my book boyfriend of the week…love him!

Julia is smart Harvard student, but wounded. She’s closed herself off from everything and everyone, just going through the motions, trying to fulfill expectations and angry about her past. She’s been betrayed by those she trusted in horrible ways. Her family life is a nightmare, and her mother makes me feel, even in my bad moments, as if I’m mother of the freakin’ year. Julia meets Crank and he changes her whole world, helps her out of her self-imposed exile, and helps her to be who she truly wants to be.

All in all, this is an excellent book. It’s emotional and captivating and just sticks with you well after you have finished it. I became very invested in the characters and their stories; it’s just so rich and deep and takes you places that you wouldn’t have expected when you started.  I highly recommend this book, it’s a 5 star (10 shoe) read for me!

I’m really pleased to know that this author is going to write stories for all the Thompson sisters. BRING IT!!!
This one sounds amazing and is going on my To-Read list. Thanks Sara!!!!!

Book Review : The Pledge

Title : The Pledge

Author : Kimberly Derting

Publisher : Margaret K. McElderry

Published : November 15th, 2011
Pages : 323
Stand Alone or Series : #1 in the Pledge series
Three Words : dystopian, YA, romance
Red Flags : violence, drug use

Summary : So there’s this lady assassin …. HA fooled you. Finally a non-lady assassin book. But it is a dystopian YA romantic trilogy (which seems to be about the only books I read these days.)

Charlaina (known as Charlie to friends and family) lives in the violent country of Ludania. From the context of the book, it is obvious that this is some future America dystopia where rule by the people has been a dismal failure and they are now under the rule of an all-powerful queen. This matriarchy has been set up with a extremely distinct class system where each class has their own special language that only they can understand. It is punishable by death to speak another language or to even look someone in the eye who is from a better class than you. So Charlie is in the merchant class and she has a BIG secret. She can understand ALL the languages. In a county where you are encouraged to “watch” each other and report on your neighbors this is a big problem. Her parents do everything they can to keep it a secret. To keep themselves from going crazy, the teenagers decide to go to secret underground clubs where they are given drugs and allowed to interact with all the classes. There she meets Max, brooding, dangerous, mysterious, hot, etc… Also, he speaks a language that she has never heard before and can still understand. Can Charlie trust Max? As the violence escalates in the city and danger is everywhere, Charlie must protect her secret and her family in a ever more dangerous world.

My Take : One of the great things about this book is the atmosphere and the world that Derting has built. Ludania reeks of distrust, violence and a general atmosphere of nervously awaiting possible detention and death. In the foreword, Derting explains that she used some conversations with a woman who lived through Nazi Germany to inform her writing and you can really tell. Ludania is definitely a dystopia, fraught with danger and fear. I loved the idea of these different languages separating the classes and that Charlie’s big secret was the ability to understand them all. Charlie is an interesting character in that she is fiercely loyal but actually questions everything around her. When her friend treats her badly, she decides that maybe she isn’t that good a friend at all. I feel like this is something that doesn’t seem to happen often enough in books. She is also brave and resourceful, intelligent and kind. All of which I like. My biggest issues with this book were the predictability of the story and her relationship with Max. I pretty much knew where this story was going from the get-go but I’m even willing to deal with that. Some of my favorite books are predictable but they create such a wonderful world around the story that I just don’t care. I did enjoy this world but I have to say occasionally I got bored. My biggest issue was the whole Max relationship. I’m not really sure why she was even interested in Max….there really wasn’t much going on there. She even says she is intrigued and frightened by him…frightened??? Can we please stop putting fear into the equation and pretend like that is a healthy relationship?

All in all, I really enjoyed this book on the whole I just felt that the relationship could have been written a little bit better. I give this book seven shoes – I’m definitely interested enough to continue to read the series.

Enjoy!!

Trina

Friday Five : Easy Makeup Tips, Books and Blogs

As a stay at home mom, some things do not get done every day. When I first had my babies, those things would usually be showers, dressing, makeup, general cleanliness etc…Now as my kiddies get older, I still need to do things quickly but as a fashionista I definitely still want to look good!

Of course I love my fashion and my shoes especially but another of my favorite things in the world is makeup. Some of you right now are groaning I know. I am a firm believer, however, that if you look good you feel good. So after years and years of looking at magazines, reading makeup books, checking out makeup blogs and trying it all out on myself. I thought I would share some easy tips on making yourself look presentable in the makeup department.

1) ALWAYS curl your lashes! Even if you don’t want to wear mascara (although I always wear mascara) please curl your lashes. Invest in a good eyelash curler (we are talking $20-25 at most). My favorite used to be the Shu Uemera but I switched to the Tarte one and have been happy with that as well. This is something you will use every day and it makes your eyes look about a million times bigger.

2) Groom, fill in and brush your eyebrows. Everybody looks better with groomed eyebrows. If you don’t know how to pluck your own eyebrows, I suggest finding somebody to wax or better yet to thread your eyebrows (which is what I do). Threading is this method where they use a piece of thread to pluck the hairs from your brow into shape. It allows you a little more flexibility than waxing. If you live in Indianapolis, I go to this amazing cheap place called Eyes by India (brows are $8!!). If you want to attempt to get your own eyebrows into shape, here is a great tutorial from one of my favorite makeup blogs, Maskcara.

3) When you are putting on makeup, put your blush on first. Most people do their eyes first and then move to blush, and can end up with heavily made up eyes and lots of blush to compensate. If you put your blush on first, you look prettier already and notice that you don’t need as much makeup. I love cream blush and my newest method for putting it on is to stipple it on the apple of my cheek and then up the cheek bone followed by a dusting of matching powder blush to lock it in place.

4) Put a light highlighting shadow in a v shape on your tear duct. I love gold shadow for this. It makes your eyes look wider and more awake. It just makes you look fresher and prettier.

5) Put on gloss or lip balm. I don’t always feel like wearing lipstick (in fact most of the time I don’t) but you still need to put something on your lips. I like gloss for the high shine factor in either a peachy or pink tone. Tinted lip balm is fantastic for those who don’t like a lot of color on their lips.

PLUS one not so easy tip:

6) HAC’ing! This is what my new favorite online makeup guru (Maskcara) calls highlighting and contouring (HAC). It’s takes some getting used to but I think it looks AH-Mazing. Ever since I started HACing, several people have asked me if I’ve lost weight (which I can assure you I have not….the holidays were not kind). Here is her video tutorial which explains it much better than I can…try it I assure you it is worth it.

 

Some Blogs and Books about makeup:

1) www.maskcara.com : I love her video tutorials on makeup. I like it because they are both simple and pretty.

2) www.makeupgeek.com : Not for the novice! These makeup looks

tend to be on the intricate side but they are very beautiful. She does a lot of basic tutorials as well.

3) Making Faces & Face Forward by Kevyn Aucoin – The first makeup books I ever bought. These are step by step tutorials on makeup looks from every era and every look. This is probably more makeup than I want to wear on a daily basis but so much to look at and more fun to try for a night out.

4) Makeup Makovers in 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes by Robert Jones – I just recently got this from the library. I especially love the 5 and 10 minute looks he has, they have become some of my go to every day looks. These are step by step tutorials.  Pretty and simple.

5) Makeup Master Class by Jemma Kidd – Another one I picked up on a whim at the library. Again, she has beautiful and simple step by step tutorials. Many of them for daytime easy looks.

6) The 5-Minute Face: The Quick & Easy Makeup Guide for Every Woman by Carmindy – You probably know Carmindy from What Not To Wear (I’m sorry TLC’s WNTW) and she always manages to make every woman on there look incredible. She is not kidding – this is a tutorial on the 5 minute face. Very pretty and wearable.

These are just a few of the books and blogs that I use! I’m planning on posting some more of my looks based on these sources but that I’ve made my own. Let me know if you have any questions!

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Book Review : Jane

Title : Jane

Author : April Lindner

Publisher : Poppy
Date Published : October 11th, 2010
Pages : 373
Stand Alone or Series : Stand Alone
Three Words : Classic retelling, romance, mystery
Red Flags : some sexual situations, some language and drug use

Summary : Jane Moore has not had a happy couple months. Her parents died in a car crash, she is forced to drop out of college and her siblings don’t seem to care too much about her circumstances. She is forced to sign up for a job with Discriminating Nannies, Inc. Her serious demeanor wins her points with the interviewer who is looking for somebody for a special job – working for the uber famous rock star, Nico Rathburn. Although initially turned off by his arrogant demeanor, she can’t help but be fascinated by him. She starts to realize that beneath his brooding exterior lies a magnetic personality and a kind heart. But Jane must contend with more than just this forbidden romance, there is a mystery at Thornfield Park. Something is going on, but you don’t know what is….do you Miss Jane?

My Take : If the plot seems extremely familiar to you….congratulate yourself dear Reader, it IS a retelling of Jane Eyre. If you read my previous post then you know that Jane Eyre is my top favorite book OF ALL TIME….so the stakes were high for this one. I actually ended up really liking this one. Now, if you are expecting something that is as good as Bronte’s version, then you should probably not read this. Come on, we are dealing with one of the classics here… but if you are looking for something fun, something romantic, something interesting and new, then please read this book. I enjoyed Linder’s writing, it was quick paced, didn’t drag at parts and meshed the old time themes with modern vernacular. I thought it was a stroke of genius to make Rochester a rock star, because truly what could give you both money and fame in this world, making you attractive to the wrong kinds of women. Jane is her usual recalcitrant, serious but deeply passionate self. My only real issue with the book was that it seemed to almost follow Jane Eyre too closely (which I know doesn’t make complete sense). I found myself occasionally wondering why I was reading this book if it was basically the same thing as the original just in a modern setting. But this was only occasionally and I found myself wanting to finish it. I give this one eight shoes.

Anybody else read this? Did you enjoy it or did it just make you long for the original?

Remember to sign up to follow my blog!

Trina

 

 

Book Review : Graceling

Title : Graceling

Author : Kristin Cashore

Publisher : Harcourt
Pages : 471
Publication Date : October 1st, 2008
Stand Alone or Series : #1 in the Graceling Realm series
Three Words : fantasy, YA, lady assassin
Red Flags : some violence, mild sexuality (appropriate for older adolescents)

Summary : Katsa is Graced. In her world, some people are born with special abilities (called Graces) The Grace gives them special powers – the ability to read minds, to swim like a fish or the ability to make beautiful music. Katsa hates her Grace – the Grace of killing. She is under the command of her uncle, King Randa and he expects her to do his dirty work – threatening wayward subjects with torture or death. Katsa has decided to use her powers for good when possible but it must be done behind her uncle’s back. While out on a mission to rescue a stolen royal, she meets a young Graced prince. Prince Po is Graced with fighting skills. When he shows up at the court of King Randa they decide to train together in order to become better fighters. But something unexpected and new happens to Katsa; she makes a friend. Together they will try to figure out the secret of why somebody has kidnapped Po’s grandfather – it is a dangerous secret that affects all the seven kingdoms.

My Take : Love, Love, Love!! This was such a fun book and I was kinda disappointed that I hadn’t heard of it before. Katsa is such an interesting character. She actually reminds me a little bit of Katniss Everdeen – hardboiled, practical but somewhat naive in relationships. She relies on herself and she is a strong woman…so delightful.  That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have doubts or bad moments. But it is the tension between your good and bad self that makes for an interesting character.

The relationship between Po and Katsa is believable and interesting. They are friends – they talk about their lives, have fun together, etc… I really liked seeing a man and woman have a great friendship. It is obvious to me that Cashore has respect for the many sides of both genders.

Cashore is just a beautiful writer.  She brought this new world to life for me. I loved the characters both on the bad and good side. I cannot wait to find out how this all ends up. I give this book nine shoes!

Has anybody else read this series? What did you think?

Also, if you haven’t done it yet, please sign up to follow me!!

 

Book Review : The FitzOsbornes at War

Title : The FitzOsbornes at War

Author : Michelle Cooper

Publication Date : October 9th, 2012
Pages : 560
Stand Alone or Series : #3 in the Montmaray Chronicles
Red Flags : Some sexual situations, violence (appropriate for older adolescents)
Three Words : historical, character study, journal

******WARNING! This review contains unavoidable spoilers for the first two books in the series.

Summary : Sophie FitzOsborne and the rest of her family have escaped from Nazis who occupied their beloved island county Montmaray. (Book #1) They have lived in England in exile dealing with the coming war and trying to get their country back (Book #2). Now it is finally war time and Sophie journals about her life during wartime. They are dealing with the non-stop bombing of London, working jobs for the government, and rationing. Sophie dances in nightclubs with soldiers on leave, manages her relatives and waits for news of her brother, who is a fighter pilot in the RAF. When news does come, it isn’t good. Toby’s plane has been shot down in enemy territory and nobody knows where is dead or alive. Will Toby come home? Will Sophie find love? What will happen to Montmaray?

My Take : OMG you guys…..this is one of the best books I’ve read in a LONG time. I actually cried during one pivotal part (I haven’t done that since Bk. 7 of Harry Potter and before that Where the Red Fern Grows – don’t even think about reading that if you love dogs and don’t want to do the “ugly cry” – but I digress). Michelle Cooper does a really masterful job of transporting you to wartime London. She weaves both historical details with a fantastic amount of character development and introspection. The realities of living during this horrendous are brought closer to you because she infuses with realistic touches – what are they eating, dealing with rationing…the mundane details of life that still have to go one even though shit is crazy. I did that thing when I finished this book where I just gave a little sigh because : 1) it was so good and wrapped up everything really well but not in a  too good to be true way and 2) now I’ve finished it  and I’m just a little sad.  This was absolutely my favorite of the three and I can’t recommend this enough. I feel like shouting BRAVA Michelle Cooper….well done indeed. I give this…..wait for it…..10 SHOES!@!!!!!!! It’s happened – I loved it that much. This book is a pair of leopard Loubotin heels – the perfect shoe. Do yourself a favor – read this series!

Trina

Book Review : Princess Academy

Title : Princess Academy

Author : Shannon Hale

Stand Alone or Series : #1 in the Princess Academy Series
Publication date : April 17, 2007
Pages : 336

Three Words : middle grade, fantasy, fairy tale elements

Red Flags : none (appropriate for younger adolescents)

Summary : So Miri lives in a remote village on the mountainside. The villagers have mined the stone quarries for a special type of rock for generations. Miri, however, is not allowed to mine the quarries but is responsible for all things domestic which she is not too jazzed about. So she is jealous of her sister and thinks that her father doesn’t respect her, plus she has all these feelings for her boyhood friend but she doesn’t feel worthy. It’s a very confusing time for poor Miri.

Then – news from the king! The king’s diviners have pinpointed where the next girl to marry the Crown Prince should come from (apparently this is something they do for each prince) – Miri’s village. Suddenly each teenage girl is forced to attend a school set up in the mountains – a princess academy. There Miri contends with an extremely harsh schoolmistress, the other girls’ intense jealousy and competition, not to mention her own feelings that maybe she doesn’t want to marry that stinking prince!

When bandits decide to invade the academy in order to kidnap the future princess, Miri and her companions must use all their wits to save themselves. Will they succeed? Who will marry the prince?

My Take : Have you ever read a book that you really didn’t want to like but found yourself unable to put down? That was this one for me. It is completely written for a middle grade/young adolescent audience and you knows I loves my sex, violence, bad language and drugs! When I first started the book, I kept thinking “this is cute and all but booorrrringg.” But then I started to notice that Miri was a female character that I really started to like and respect. She doesn’t always do things right and occasionally she even acts like a brat but in the end she is brace, resourceful, intelligent and caring. When I think of things I would like my daughters or myself to be, these rank right up there. Next, I just got sucked into the whole story. As you know I love the learning at school trope, I couldn’t wait to see what Miri would do. As she tries to strike up friendships with the other girls, sometimes succeeding but sometimes not. Miri struggles with whether she even wants to marry the prince – thank you Shannon Hale for making it totally believable. In the end, I really liked this book and I would recommend it. Sometimes it is ok for a story not to include all the violence, sex, etc… in the world – Don’t worry dear readers I won’t make it a habit 😉

Rating : eight and a half shoes – flat knee high boots that you can wear with EVERYTHING (I need some and it has been on my mind)

Trina

Book Review : Throne of Glass

More lady assassins!!

Title : Throne of Glass

Author : Sarah J. Maas

Stand alone or Series : #1 in Throne of Glass series (there are also four prequel novellas)

Three Words : YA, fantasy, assassin intrigue

Red Flags : violence, some sexual situations

Summary : Celaena Sardothien has spent a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier…this is just as hard as it sounds. In fact, most don’t survive a month let alone a year. Calaena has been sentenced for her super bad-assery in the assassin department. She is so good as to be a legend already.

She is suddenly taken and put before the Crown Prince Dorian. He is offering her freedom but on one condition: she must be his champion in the competition that his father is holding to find a new royal assassin. The prince and other peers of the realm are pitting their chosen champions in this competition – a motley crew of thieves, assassins, soldiers, etc… These “champions” will be put through a series of tests; fail and you will be eliminated. Celaena would only have to serve the king for three years and then she would really be free.

She is taken to court where she is trained by the captain of the guard, Captain Westfall. He is gruff and tough, not to mention hard on her but he seems to understand her better than anyone. Meanwhile, she starts to notice that Prince Dorian is more than he seems and things get all complicated. As the competition begins, there is added problems when contestants start being found murdered….in an extremely gruesome manner. Celaena decides to investigate before she becomes the next victim. Will she find the killer? Will she win the competition or does she even want to? Does she have feelings for the prince or for the captain or for either,hmmmm?

My Take : If you look at the Goodreads reviews, there were definitely strong feelings about this one. Some loved it, other really hated it. I fell into the category of loved it! I am really digging on the whole I am woman, hear me roar thing going on in books right now. It’s nice to see female characters, kicking ass, taking numbers, not relying on men to save them but also having the ability to mess up, asking for help when needed and realizing their own fallibility. Something I feel used to be relegated to male characters only. Also, it is about time a character acknowledged that she is pretty and likes getting dressed up. I can’t tell you how tired I am of the whole – I’m plain Jane tomboy girl that somehow attracts a bunch of men to me. I wish there was a little more of Celaena doing some actual killing or some such but I wasn’t hugely bothered by this. Others also really hated the love triangle aspect of it. This was probably not my favorite part of it but I appreciate that she made neither man an obvious “why is she even interested in him?” character – you know when they are too nice or too mean or too something.

I enjoyed the action of this book. The plot was nicely paced and kept me interested in going back to the book again and again. I read this one fairly quickly .  I am really interested in reading the prequel novellas which show how Celaena became legendary assassin because who doesn’t love a good back story? To wrap it up, there are some things that could’ve been done better with this book but overall I really liked it and would recommend picking it up. I give it eight shoes : flat boots that I have been craving so I can go ahead and tuck all my pants in already!

Trina

Book Review : Grave Mercy

There must have been a directive from publishers to authors : We need strong female leads!! We need to cash in on this whole Hunger Games thing. If possible they should be deadly. This must be the reason why I keep finding lady assassin books everywhere in YA right now. Luckily all of the books I’ve read have been pretty awesome so I’m not complaining. Just sayin’…

Title : Grave Mercy

Author : Robin Lafevers

Stand Alone or Series : #1 in His Fair Assassin series (although as far as I can tell each book is about a different person while still being interconnected)

Three Words : historical, romance, YA,

Red Flags : sexual situations, some language, violence (still YA but maybe the older end of that)

Summary : Seventeen-year-old Ismae Rienne is about to be married off to the Pig Farmer Guillo. He is violent, brutish, not to mention extremely rapey. Luckily she is rescued before this can happen and taken to the convent of St. Mortain. There the sisters serve the old gods, specifically Death, under the guise of Christian saints. They are tasked to train the sisters to serve Death, including sending those bearing his marque to their final sleep. Ismae passes their tests and become one of the initiates. She learns how to make poisons, how to swordfight, knife fight and kill with her bare hands. Basically become a super bad ass. Now she has been assigned to the Breton court of the Duchess, where she is to pretend to be Gavriel Duval’s mistress. She is supposed to learn who is plotting against the Duchess and dispatch them. Things get all sorts of complicated when she discovers that Gavriel is not only intelligent but kind-hearted and super hot. Plus she is woefully underprepared to deal with all the court intrigues, etc… Will she follow through with her task? What if Gavriel is the traitor?

My Take : I liked many things about this book and I disliked many things about this book. Dislike : Ismae does not seem all that deep of a character. For being a bad-ass, she has a lot of self-esteem issues. Somehow that didn’t jibe with the whole becoming assassin thing. On the other hand, Ismae going through the whole trying to decide if the convent is on the side of right or not seemed very compelling and true to the character. Dislike #2 : I wasn’t all that excited about Gavriel…just hoping for a little more substance not just hot and kind. Dislike #3 : Some plot points seemed a little too contrived…really? Somebody is thought to be a traitor so instead of taking off, he hides in the secret passageways of the castle. This is making it sound like I hated this book but I actually really liked it and am excited to read the next book in the series. I really liked following Ismae in her initial training at the convent. I loved the court intrigue, the interesting historical context of Breton and the light fantasy elements that were woven seamlessly into the story. I hoped for a little more depth and interest in the characters but the world that Lafevers has created is enough to draw me in. I give it seven and a half shoes :  gladiator shoes – not always practical but with certain outfits – really fun!

Trina

Book Review : In the Garden of Iden

Title : In the Garden of Iden

Author : Kage Baker

Stand Alone or Series : #1 in the Company Series

Three Words : science fiction, historical, romance

Red Flags : sex, violence, bad language (NSFC)

Summary :

This entire book is narrated by Mendoza who explains “The Company” and how she came to be part of it. The Company, or Dr. Zeus, Inc., is a 24th century organization that has discovered the secrets to both time travel and immortality. They use this knowledge not to serve humanity but to become wealthy. They go back in time and make children immortal through a treatment that turns them into cyborgs. These children then gather objects from the past, hide them and live through the centuries until the 24th century at which time the Company “finds” these items and sells them for vast sums of money. Mendoza was rescued from the Spanish inquisition as a small child and turned into a cyborg. Her specialty is botany. When she emerges from her training fifteen years later, she is stationed in the garden of Sir Walter Iden to collect rare plant species. She travels with two other Company cyborgs, Joseph and Nefer. When she arrives in England at Iden’s estate, she meets his secretary – Nicholas Harpole. She is immediately attracted to him, he is intelligent and seems to be ahead of his time in his views. She sets out to seduce him believing it would be advantageous to the Company…she didn’t plan to have actual feelings for him. We follow her as she deals with the implications of being an immortal cyborg, being Spanish in an anti-Catholic England and being in love with an all too mortal questioning human.

My Take :

I’m not really sure what to write about this book. In some ways I really liked it, but in other ways it was a little boring. The underlying premise is so interesting and promising but honestly sometimes I was struggling to get through the book. When reading the description I really expected this to be a little more romantic than it was, but don’t let it fool you – this is hard core science fiction. Which is great, just not what I was expecting. I fully believe that how we receive books, movies, TV, really any entertainment has a lot to do with where we are in our lives and our expectations as much as the actual content. So…I did enjoy this and I would recommend it just maybe not wholeheartedly. I give it six shoes – ankle boots that I can’t seem to figure out what to wear with.

Anybody else read one of the Company books? What did you think?