Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books – so much so that I collect copies as though I’m afraid that they will expire and vanish from the shelves. I have beautiful hardback copies that I keep for reading at home, battered thrift store copies that I give away with wild abandon, and a copy in my stash of emergency supplies in case of earthquake or zombie attack. So I greet a book like Mr. … Continue reading Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker
I DEEPLY regret that I can’t remember which of you wonderful Bitches recommended Cinnamon and Gunpowder, but I owe you one because this book was AMAZEBALLS. I do have to warn readers in the strongest terms that the book has a bittersweet ending. There is a love story, but this is NOT a romance novel and you will want copious amounts of tissues towards the end. But boy howdy, is it amazing! Cinnamon and Gunpowder … Continue reading Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown
Of Dreams and Rust is a sequel to Sarah Fine’s Of Metal and Wishes . The two books basically function as one single book, and this review contains spoilers for Of Metal and Wishes. Alert – this is a YA story with first person, present-tense narration and a love triangle. Fortunately, the setting, characters, and overall plot made it feel fresh. Of Metal and Wishes is inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, one of … Continue reading Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine
Oh my gosh, I have such feels about this book. I had high expectations for it and I was not disappointed, and my challenge here is to try to sum up my feelings in a literary way instead of just doing this: A Study in Scarlet Women is the first book in the new Lady Sherlock series. Charlotte Holmes is an upper-class young woman who seems to be on the autism spectrum. She does not … Continue reading A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
This is going to be a somewhat brief review. I have a longer and more in-depth review scheduled for elsewhere later in the week, and Carrie is working on reading this book as well. But A Study in Scarlet Women releases today and I couldn’t let the release go by without telling you HOW MUCH I ENJOYED IT OH MY GOSH. You might have heard my podcast interview with Sherry Thomas last week wherein she talked a … Continue reading A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
Sleeping Beauty is a difficult story. By its very nature, it has a LOT of consent issues, and the straight up rape of a sleeping woman who then gives birth to one or two babies without waking is a commonality in the earliest versions of the tale. Even if you have a version with no rape, and discount the inherent ickiness of “kiss a random sleeping woman” aspect, it’s also a very passive tale for … Continue reading Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
Wreck of the Nebula Dream is a fun science fiction adventure romance. While it’s inspired by the Titanic disaster, it reminded me more of Indiana Jones crossed with The Poseidon Adventure– lots of action and derring do. Also space pirates! The Nebula Dream is a giant luxury liner that is being touted as the best, the most luxurious, and the fastest of its kind. When disaster strikes, Nick, a Special Forces Officer, discovers that there … Continue reading Wreck of the Nebula Dream by Veronica Scott
Have you ever had the experience of enjoying a book as you were actually reading it and then five seconds after finishing it realizing that everything about the book was enraging? That was my experience with Alexander Smith McCall’s adaptation of Emma. I was so frustrated by the depiction of the character Emma that I kept flying into rages after I finished, but at the same time the side characters and the prose had sort of … Continue reading Emma by Alexander McCall Smith
Alice isn’t your grandmother’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s my version of it either. It’s dark, disturbing, both a retelling and a continuation of the classic, and I’m issuing all the trigger warnings. The book is fraught with violence, including both physical and sexual violence against women. So if those things are difficult for you to read about, especially in relation to a much-loved story from your childhood, I … Continue reading Alice by Christina Henry
For Darkness Shows the Stars is a science fiction YA romance loosely based on Persuasion by Jane Austen. It’s not a very good version of Persuasion, and it’s not very good as romance, but it’s quite good as science fiction and I felt intense empathy for the heroine even though I frequently felt that her story was not the most interesting story in the book. For Darkness is about Elliot North, a Luddite. Many generations ago, … Continue reading For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
