In Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy Jackson encounters a whole new set of enemies (of course) as well as a few new allies. While you still know that theIn Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy Jackson encounters a whole new set of enemies (of course) as well as a few new allies. While you still know that the worst is yet to come (one book left!), this is a great installment. We explore that famous maze, find things that are lost, feel betrayed, and even have a chance to forgive someone that may or may not deserve it.
I do love these books. The integration of Greek Mythology, scenes and characters from The Odyssey and modern-day places is just a really interesting combination. Percy is so...male. He's definitely more of a teenager in this one and his lack of romantic know-how is endearing. I'm a fan of this series, that's for sure....more
When it comes to trouble, the Herdmans take the cake. If it can be burnt, hit, stolen or lied about - they've done it. So when they decide to go to chWhen it comes to trouble, the Herdmans take the cake. If it can be burnt, hit, stolen or lied about - they've done it. So when they decide to go to church and join the annual Christmas Pageant, not one soul is thrilled. Is it possible to completely destroy the nativity story? The Herdmans seem determined to find out, although when the big day finally comes, things aren't quite what people expected.
I read this one out loud to my three children (10.5, 8, 5.5) and they were huge fans. There were moments of hysterical laughter and some lines are still being quoted. The ending nearly had me teary and I think my kids (at least the two older ones) GOT it. My only caveat is that, for me, parts were so outrageously "sacrilegious" that I felt sort of bad reading them to my kids! It also has more than a few cuss words that I just edited out as I read. Everyone enjoyed it enough, though, and it got us thinking enough about what Christmas is all about, that I think we'll be reading it again next year...more
TC: a Red Sox loving baseball fanatic with a penchant for social activism
Augie: a fan of female stars from classic movies, doesOur cast of characters:
TC: a Red Sox loving baseball fanatic with a penchant for social activism
Augie: a fan of female stars from classic movies, doesn't know he's gay yet, best friend of TC
Ale: recently moved to Boston from DC, daughter of a former ambassador, has hidden musical theater skills and tries her darnedest to avoid the advances of the darling TC
I don't want to tell you whole lot more than that - I want you to discover it on your own. Through homework assignments, journal entries, texts and chats we follow these three through their most excellent year, as they learn about themselves, about love and about what it means to be a family. Wishes come true, musicals take place and heart strings are TUGGED, let me tell you. For such a clever and witty novel, it's got so much heart. The Augie storyline is heartfelt and so accepting that it felt a tiny bit over the top, but better that than things swinging the other way. There is some disbelief that needs to be suspended, but I was so enthralled with the story that it wasn't hard. A charming piece of work that surprised me and thrilled me....more
When Amy decides to be cryogenically frozen and sent into space with her parents on the huge spaceship Godspeed, she does not anticipate being woken uWhen Amy decides to be cryogenically frozen and sent into space with her parents on the huge spaceship Godspeed, she does not anticipate being woken up early...really early, when the Godspeed is still 50 years from landing on earth's new colony. The world that she awakens to is like a claustrophobic bad dream, with a tyrannical ruler named Eldest, people who just seem...off, way too many things that don't make sense and confining metal walls are the only thing between her and the terror of space.
Can Amy trust Elder, the boy who is next in line to rule? Who unplugged her and could that mysterious person do it to someone else? What else is Eldest hiding from Amy and everyone else?
This was an incredibly intriguing book. Such interesting and legitimate questions, so many mysteries that are unraveled, completely surprising me (which we all know I love) and some wonderful science fiction twists. The position these people are put in, completely alone in a theoretically self-sustaining environment, puts so many restraints on how things can play out if the people on board are going to actually make it to that colony on the other side of the universe. A really enjoyable read for me - 4.5 stars, the only reason it's not 5 is that I wanted a little more from the romantic storyline, although it felt very believable.
A great book for young adult sci-fi lovers....more
What do you get if you throw together The Series of Unfortunate Events, The Lord of the Rings, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and a little bit oWhat do you get if you throw together The Series of Unfortunate Events, The Lord of the Rings, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and a little bit of Harry Potter type magic? You get this book, an adventure story, a fantasy story - a story of orphans and wizards, hidden books and midnight chases.
One winter night, four year old Kate and her two siblings are separated from their parents for a secret purpose - and while she wants to believe they are still alive, ten years of orphanage swapping begins to wear on her faith. When the three children are taken to their newest home, it's apparent before they even arrive that things are not quite what they seem and soon they are on an adventure that will change their lives - and possibly save the world from evil.
There is a lot about this story that I liked - the believable camaraderie of the siblings, the Tolkien-like storyline and a few of the minor characters are just FUNNY with their sarcasm and irritation. For a middle-grade fantasy, I'd say it's a fine work, since I can't think of anything I'd change (except maybe tighten it up and shorten it a little, but I think that's me as an adult reader talking - for a younger audience the explanations and timing might be just right). The ending certainly left you knowing at least two more books are on their way, with some good and interesting questions left unanswered and some clear adventures yet to come....more
Seven lives that are, irrevocably, changed by Hurricane Katrina.
In A.D. New Orleans, Josh Neufeld puts pen to paper to tell, in graphic Seven Stories.
Seven lives that are, irrevocably, changed by Hurricane Katrina.
In A.D. New Orleans, Josh Neufeld puts pen to paper to tell, in graphic novel format, the true tales of seven different people who survived Katrina - either by evacuating, by being rescued off a roof, by ending up being transported by bus to Houston via the Convention Center or by just holding tight.
From the beginning, it's like a train wreck - you don't want to look, but you can't help it. You want to scream at them, with our wonderful hindsight, to GET OUT but of course, who could have imagined such a disaster? So, it's not easy to read or look at. It makes you uncomfortable. It makes you worry about how you would handle situations like these people actually faced, in real life. It makes you question the actions of our government. It tunes you in to the fact that sometimes, there is damage that just cannot be made right, that even if you get the electricity back on and a bed to sleep in again, that when your world is literally washed away, you will just never be the same. ...more
The night after sixteen year old Gaia's first delivery as a midwife, she returns home to find her parents missing - arrested - by soldiers from the EnThe night after sixteen year old Gaia's first delivery as a midwife, she returns home to find her parents missing - arrested - by soldiers from the Enclave. At a loss as to what information her parents might have, Gaia is determined to help them, but finds herself in a web of intrigue involving the "quota" of babies that must be handed over to those from within the Enclave every month. She is forced to decide quickly to either take her chances among those in the Enclave and rescue her parents or to live a life seeped in an injustice that she is only beginning to understand.
Un-put-down-able. Dystopian young adult fare that gives a new twist on the formula, with the advantaged living a privileged life behind walls, dependent upon the masses without. While occasionally the world O'Brien created had some holes in it that left me asking myself annoying questions (how they are able to have some technologies and not others, etc.), I was so engaged in the story that I let them slide. I loved the babies and birth thread of the plot, the twisted ethical logic of the "bad guys" and that it truly surprised me on more than one occasion (those made up for the few more predictable things). Gaia is a tough cookie with some deeper emotional issues and I liked all the people she was able to find to help her on her way.
Instead of being annoyed when it ended clearly unfinished, I'm just already looking forward to its sequel. It deserves 4.5 stars in my book....more
When Clay gets a random package of cassette tapes in the mail, he has no idea that the contents will take him to the brink of serious emotional traumaWhen Clay gets a random package of cassette tapes in the mail, he has no idea that the contents will take him to the brink of serious emotional trauma. The tapes are from Hannah, a girl from school, who only a few weeks before had taken a bunch of pills and committed suicide. The tapes, created for specific people at school to pass to each other, are the reasons WHY. Why she gave up hope and why she couldn't find a way out.
Oh, it's painful. As painful as I'd imagined when I was first told about this book. I didn't WANT to read about suicide so I put it off - but when I finally picked it up, I read it in a day. I had to know. Who could have helped her? How does a person get to that point? It's so eerie, this malicious bullying that can happen in whispers and in hidden corners, but that can absolutely turn a person inside out.
And what the book is best at showing you is that sometimes, it might not look like "bullying." Sometimes our actions just have repercussions that we cannot even imagine and when something might seem like a "joke" or when someone else gets caught in the crossfire of our own problems with people, the results can be disastrous to a fragile adolescent sense of self worth.
I need my daughter to read this when she gets a little older, like fourteen. I want her to read it to see how her actions can affect others and what it might look like if someone she knows (or if she HERSELF) is getting to such a low point and how to look for help. Not that Hannah is perfect - she makes some pretty dumb choices - but rumors can do crazy things to your mind when there is no way to dig yourself out from under them. I just wanted to reach in the book and hug her and tell her that she wasn't really alone - and I loved the narrative style of the book that shows so clearly how two people can see the exact same things so differently.
I have a feeling that this book will stick in my brain....more
When I first read Fahrenheit 451 as a teen, I was already an avid book lover, so it frightened me then, with the palpable hate of the written word. ThWhen I first read Fahrenheit 451 as a teen, I was already an avid book lover, so it frightened me then, with the palpable hate of the written word. This time, though, reading it as an adult in 2010, what frightened me more was how close our society has come to Montag's - the walls covered with tv? People interacting more with that tv and about that tv and it's programs than with actual people? THAT freaks me out on a completely different level.
It's a brilliant story - a world cut of the exact same cloth as our own, astonishing really, how close to right Bradbury got it. The masses have rejected books and reading, it's easier to not really think and just have fun - to watch the parlor walls and live a life insulated from any sort of bad news or philosophies that might tempt you to want to make an effort. It doesn't help that life is so fast paced, either - books take too much time and energy. Not only that, but there are so many ways to offend and be offended, that if you just stop reading - everyone is happier, right?
OH how it makes you think. I want to shake myself up from the inside out, remind myself of how lucky I am to have a world full of ideas and authentic feelings at my fingertips. The drawing are pretty sci-fi, they felt like the 50s and the burning scenes are intense. The adaptation did a fine job of giving you the plot with some actual quotes from the book as part of the text. This quote absolutely floors me:
"It’s not books you need, it’s some of the things that once were in books. The same things could be in the “parlour families� today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not. No, no, it’s not books at all you’re looking for! Take it where you can find it, in old phonograph records, old motion pictures, and in old friends; look for it in nature and look for it in yourself. Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us."
(the part in italics is not actually in the text of the graphic novel, but it's too good not to include :)
I love the idea of books stitching the patches of the universe together for me. If you have no inclination to actually read the whole of Fahrenheit 451, I would pick this up for sure. If you are a true lover of books, you need to know this story. ...more
This is an Indian story, a magical story, about a girl named Parvati who is born with the fire of music inside her. As she grows, the strangest thingsThis is an Indian story, a magical story, about a girl named Parvati who is born with the fire of music inside her. As she grows, the strangest things seem to happen in her presence and soon it is clear that her heart is full of the dance - classical Indian dance and her destiny leads her to a school that can develop her talents.
I always appreciate books that will educate me, introduce me to a world I'm unacquainted with - and while I've read books about India before, the nuances of Indian dance and how deeply threaded it is with both religion and culture were totally new. Parvati is a mild character, confident in her abilities, sensitive to both people and animals and yet, as she comes of age, she begins to have a mind of her own. The idea of destiny is a key component of her world and she has to figure out how to mesh what she wants with what she believes she is destined to do.
While I tried to decide if this was a middle grade or young adult novel, I came across this problem: the romance is too subtle and unfinished for a young adult book and all the unfamiliar Indian terms might be too much for a younger middle-grader, although there is an extensive glossary and pronunciation guide in the back. So, it's rather in-between. Lovers of dance, of Southern Indian culture will appreciate this and not mind that sometimes the plot is slow because of all the rich details that the author includes. For me, I know that parts of it will stick with me but I wasn't blown away....more
For Letty and Cordelia, two friends in rural Ohio, New York City is a dream full of possibilities in the last glitzy years of the Jazz Age. What they For Letty and Cordelia, two friends in rural Ohio, New York City is a dream full of possibilities in the last glitzy years of the Jazz Age. What they find when they get there, of course, is the shock of reality: speakeasies and bootleggers and everyone has an angle. Soon they both begin to search for what they wish for most: a place on the stage for Letty and a glimpse of the father Cordelia's never known.
Along with a flapper named Astrid, with her own story, Bright Young Things is a story of opportunities lost and found - where three girls on the brink of adulthood make some seriously misguided choices, takes some crazy chances and sometimes succeed, sometimes fail.
I liked the time period and I think that part was well done - that era is pretty fascinating, with alcohol being illegal but everywhere, and with women really beginning to being to drop all the old conventions of behavior and dress. I even thought the general plot was engaging. I think my problem lies in the fact that it waxed melodramatic too much for my taste, like it wanted to be gritty but fell a little short. The dialogue and circumstances felt somewhat cliche and while it was certainly romantic, it just wasn't as rollicking of a ride as I'd hoped. I liked the characters enough to want to find out what happens next, but I think that instead of reading the sequel, I'll probably just try to find a review with spoilers....more
One word? Hilarious. I laughed out loud. We have Jack and Algernon, friends, both of whom regularly assume different identities so as to easily move bOne word? Hilarious. I laughed out loud. We have Jack and Algernon, friends, both of whom regularly assume different identities so as to easily move between town and country without causing a scene with their relatives. They both end up madly in love with women who can not possibly truly love them unless their name is Ernest.
Of course there are interfering aunties and squabbles over muffins - not to mention babies in handbags and private cigarette cases. Truly, the play is dripping with whimsy - puns on every other page. All the main characters feed off of different ideas of marriage and "earnestness" - a lack of earnestness is considered wickedly exciting while husbands and wives are ridiculed as dull. Despite that, all anyone really wants is a marriage (either for themselves or for their relations).
I think there is actually some deep stuff going on in this play - Wilde is passing judgment on Victorian ideals and mindsets, but for all that, it's just a pleasure to read. And to watch. I highly recommend it....more
In this short novel, there is a love triangle. Dana and Avra and Emil. The darling Emil, boyfriend of Avra, Dana's best friend. And while Dana is the In this short novel, there is a love triangle. Dana and Avra and Emil. The darling Emil, boyfriend of Avra, Dana's best friend. And while Dana is the expert on all things bee, Avra is clearly the queen bee. While Dana is planning on college in a few short months, Avra just wants to GO - to leave the claustrophobic hive of high school and get away from her parents and the shadow of her older sister. Emil is keeping his own plans to himself.
Bee lore and culture are woven throughout the text so flawlessly - the comparisons shine a light on and add to the plot. As much as it is a book about love, it's also about friendship, and what a strong girl needs to do when she realizes that being a worker bee for the rest of her life is not enough.
I gulped this book in about an hour and a half. It's fantastic and the bee thread just adds sparkle and interest. And the love takes me RIGHT back to high school. Be aware that for younger teens, there are a few instances of strong language, but really, it should still be read, in my opinion....more
This book consists of five different plays. As I read each one, I just wrote down my thoughts:
Ivanov: a disillusioned landowner is fed up with his lif This book consists of five different plays. As I read each one, I just wrote down my thoughts:
Ivanov: a disillusioned landowner is fed up with his life. Really, he just over-thinks everything and has given up on trying to be happy. There is a lot of fussing over Ivanov and his choices - ever since his marriage to a "Jewess" who gave up her family and religion to be with him, he's gone emotionally downhill. There is a lot of men crying in this play and if I had to give it a theme or a point, I think it's that other people and the outside world can't really make up for our own lack of effort at happiness. I could be TOTALLY OFF.
The Sea Gull: We're in the countryside with a group of artists and wanna-be artists. No one is happy with their lot - if they are already an artist, their work consumes them and disappoints them. If they aren't, they can't imagine how they will be happy until they are an acknowledged artist. I appreciated several interesting passages, some quite thought provoking, on writing and the passion of writers. There's a lot of selfishness, though, and there isn't a character to balance that out - we're all most intrigued our own self-interest. The book claims this play is a "comedy," but, um, I didn't find really anything funny, so it might have a different definition of comedy than I do.
Uncle Vanya: In this story, we've got a gouty old professor, his very young second young and a bunch of the family and friends of his first wife (as well as their daughter). The professor and his wife are from town, sort of sweeping in and creating a bustle of needs at the estate that is run primarily by the brother-in-law and the daughter. So many relationships to keep straight, it was one of the puzzles of this play for me, to keep everyone straight (oh wait, that has happened in every play). There is unrequited love and disillusionment (HERE are the themes!), but also some forward-thinking, environmentally aware characters. I liked that there was discussion in this play about Russia and Russians and hard it is to rise above the drudgery of life there. This was a more interesting, faster read than the other two for me, although things are wrapped up almost too nicely in the end.
The Three Sisters: living in a provincial town with their brother, Olga, Irina and Masha begin the play remembering their recently deceased father, eager to begin a useful life of work, culture and purpose. The army regiment in town provides most of the rest of the cast, infusing the environment with prospective lovers and philosophical conversation companions. Of course things do not go well for the sisters � I’ve just recognized the trend in Chekhov’s plays and didn’t expect giddy happiness for them, but of all the characters I’ve read about so far, I liked these sisters the best. They seem to sincerely care about each other and while they get desperate with longing for what they once had, they don’t give up on each other. Their sister-in-law is a malicious character, slowly sucking the marrow out of their household. I would recommend reading some critical analysis of the play, because that made it even more meaningful � there’s a fascinating disintegration of the sisters and their brother, a sad reflection of the disintegration of cultured Russian society at the time. I liked reading this one a lot.
The Cherry Orchard: along the same theme at The Three Sisters, we're at a provincial estate run by the adopted daughter of a woma, Luybov, who along with her brother Gayev has squandered all the wealth of their ancestral home and its famous cherry orchard. What is to be done to pay the bills? While Luybov and Gayev are rather blase about the issue, others on the estate (and those who are interested in its possibilities) are frantic to decide its fate. One character in particular, a perpetual student great friend of Luybov's daughter Anya, has a tendency to get philosophical about the situation and I really loved his observations. In one rather long speech, I felt like he dug into the crux of all of Chekhov's plays when he talks about the failings of the Russian intelligentsia, their lack of work ethic or interest in really doing something about their affairs. In another speech that I REALLY loved, he waxes eloquent about the sad history of Russia's serfs and how so much of the beauty in Russia was built on the backs of slave labor. In this play, there are more characters who see that just because the orchard might be lost, it doesn't mean we have to give up and shoot ourselves (certainly a twist of Chekho's usual theme) - we can find work and be loved and have other adventures out in the wide world. Of course, other characters are not half so optimistic, and I wouldn't say its a happy play, but it felt more like it went full circle, where I could see the depth of it without having to have someone else tell me. I'd love to see it performed.
SO. I read five plays! Holy cow. I have officially decided I would like to try reading more from that land of Russia, what a different vein of experiences than my own and what a different way of looking at the world. Reading plays is NOT easy, but it helps that there is a list of characters at the beginning that you can refer to for all those tricky Russian names :) Honestly? It's not for the faint of heart, but it really is worth it, I think, to immerse yourself in provincial Russia for a while and to wonder how you would deal with a world where it seems like you are constantly hitting your head against a brick wall and everyone around you is doing the same dang thing. Could you stay true to your wife/husband/fiance? Could you work through the stress without succumbing to constant philosophizing or complaining? Hard to say, but interesting to think about....more
When Sister Helen Prejean accepts a request to exchange letters with a prisoner on death row, she has no idea that it will be the springboard into a lWhen Sister Helen Prejean accepts a request to exchange letters with a prisoner on death row, she has no idea that it will be the springboard into a life of activism. Her life in Louisiana becomes embroiled with politics and legal proceedings, support groups and protest walks as she commits herself to the anti-death penalty cause.
Dead Man Walking is a memoir and a treatise on the history of the death penalty. She clearly states the side she has taken and the reasons while she feels that whether a person is killed by the state or by a “murderer,� intentional, premeditated killing is wrong. She has to navigate the emotional territory of the victim’s families who struggling with rage and loss while at the same time supporting the right to life (in prison) of the criminals.
Controversial. Yes. My husband and I had multiple discussions during my (admittedly slow-moving) reading of this book. Is it murder to kill a criminal? Can our criminal justice system correctly identify and prosecute the true perpetrators of crimes? Does the death penalty actually deter crime? Does the government’s killing of your child’s murderer actually help you to heal, or does it take something deeper?
Is it fun to read? Not so much. Redundant? Sometimes. And there is a lot of driving back and forth (like, in a car) that sometimes got tedious, I liked the “guts� of the book more than the narrative, I think. She is very persuasive but I feel like the book could’ve been shorter and still been as persuasive. It was interesting to meet several criminals and try to come to terms with their friendly behavior and the heinous crimes they committed � and then follow their last days and moments before being executed, such a systematic and emotion-less process.
It’s a high-stakes issue. I applaud Sister Prejean’s energy to do good in the best ways she can and for speaking out. I have no desire to read a book on the death penalty again, but I don’t regret following this one to its finish. ...more
Do you like dystopian stories? Love triangles? Unanswered questions? Matched is a intriguing story that can hang gently next to The Giver in the grandDo you like dystopian stories? Love triangles? Unanswered questions? Matched is a intriguing story that can hang gently next to The Giver in the grand tome of dystopian literature. Cassie lives in a controlled society where everyone is given absolutely the perfect amount of everything they need. Statistical science is used to predict their every decision and based on all the data, each person is provided with the person they will marry, the person who is their perfect fit: their match.
Soon after her Match, however, Cassie begins to see flaws in the society she has been raised to appreciate for its stability. The realization that she doesn't actually like always being watched and having her choices made for her suddenly makes her world oh so much more complicated. There is a boy, of course, Ky, who while not her Match certainly IS her match. He teaches her about creating things instead of just doing things and he appreciates the secret words that Cassie was given by her grandfather. But Ky isn't from their city and his past and both of their choices lead to...of course...a sequel that will tell us the rest of the story. I'm looking forward to it.
What an interesting, fast read. Cassie starts off so naive - and she never gets a harsh teenage edge, she just finally decides what she wants and is wiling to take risks. While is it certainly a dystopian novel, it's also incredibly romantic and makes you wonder about what our society truly appreciates and what we take for granted. Can there be TOO much beauty? TOO many words and stories? Would it be better to just pick out only the best that there is and then alter society to make everyone's life as superior as possible, removing everything unnecessary?
I WANT to squeal and say that I adored it but I think, for me, I give it four stars because it was a tiny bit too mild for the depth of the story being told. I got the sense that things will change in the next book, but I was waiting for something more intense to happen. Until the end, things felt very controlled - which I'm sure was intentional, but there you go. I did really like it though, especially the references to writing and poetry. If you are a fan of the Giver, I would definitely put this one on your list....more
If you have a fondness for words, a penchant for unique phraseology, you must read this book. Ella lives on the island of Nollop in a singularly uniquIf you have a fondness for words, a penchant for unique phraseology, you must read this book. Ella lives on the island of Nollop in a singularly unique community dedicated to the memory of the man who created that infamous sentence using each letter of the alphabet: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.� When the island’s council begins banning the use of individual letters, Ella must work with her family and friends to not loose hope � and to find a solution before there are no letters left.
Crazy plot, no? It’s an epistolary novel, PERFECT format for such a story � satirical and political. As some fight against the injustice of the letter-banning, others clamber to the side of the council, revering Nollop and clinging to their belief that the banning of letters is his will. Of course it is silly, over-the-top and outrageous, and if you are afraid of big and unfamiliar words, this may not be the book for you. But for someone who loves words, to notice how each epistle has to be written with fewer and fewer letters of the alphabet? That’s cleverness, in my opinion. It’s also certainly a loopy sort of treatise on censorship and totalitarianism, but with a light tough and silly words like “Satto-Gatto� Please, when you read this, be sure to always read the dates at the top of the page. Hilarity. ...more
I love stories with two time periods, there’s something about that juxtaposition between events now and events in the past that, when well written, reI love stories with two time periods, there’s something about that juxtaposition between events now and events in the past that, when well written, really adds depth to a story. Revolution is such a story. Andi is a senior at a prestigious Brooklyn high school and she is broken inside. She pops pills, mouths off to everyone, and ignores everything that’s required of her except music. Music is Andi’s only solace and she’s a guitar player with extreme talent. But even music can’t take away the pain of the loss of her little brother and her mother’s subsequent slide into mental illness.
Alexandrine lived in Paris, over 200 years ago. Talented in her own right, a string of events led her into a life of intrigue among the doomed Royals of the French Revolution and soon she won’t be able to escape even if she wants to.
How do these two stories tie together? Much of it is emotional. Loss. Guilt. Love. What tools can we truly use to survive in a world that is so full of hideousness and pain? Music ties them together also, and I loved this plotline. Andi’s a character that is really rough around the edges, she’s got a foul mouth and a angry soul, and so watching her piece her heart back together is a painful process.
While sometimes Andi is hard to love, the story itself is tight and intriguing. There are mysteries, trips through the creepy catacombs and, most importantly, a precious diary that spills the secrets of one small participant in the French Revolution. I loved how much this story made me think about revolutions and freedom and the process of grieving. While all things aren’t always tied together perfectly and I had to actively suspend my disbelief on one occasion, I forgave it because I appreciated the rest of it so much....more
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