The Giver (1993) – reviewed 4 times previously (3.75 avg) I love dystopian fiction. Give me a zombie apocalypse or oppressive regime, and I’m happy. Unless we’re talking about really having to live under those circumstances, in which case you can count me out. So The Giver should be right up my alley. Only….well, it’s written for 14 year olds. It’s not that this isn’t a good book, I’m just 20 years too old for it. This book is trimmed of any excess. There’s a […]
A castle full of odd ducks and misfits
The opening story of Castle Waiting, which explains how the castle came to be abandoned, so to speak, is a variation on Sleeping Beauty. Only once the princess is awakened from her century of sleep and the hedge surrounding the castle lets people in and out, she goes off with her prince and pretty much forgets about the place where she slumbered and the people in it. As the years pass, the castle becomes a refuge for various outcasts and odd characters, with the princess’ […]
Forget the stupid rat-creatures. Stupid and annoying Phoney Bone, more like it
The three Bone cousins Fone Bone (renamed Hero Bone in my head), Smiley Bone (Comic Relief Bone) and Phoney Bone (Greedy, or frequently Insufferable, Bone) have been driven out of their home town of Boneville because Phoney Bone had some sort of get rich quick scheme and scammed the entire town, and now an angry mob has driven them off. They are wandering in the wilderness when they are attacked by a huge swarm of locusts and end up in a mysterious forest in a […]
I Was a Countess and Now I Have to Pretend to be a Commoner
Rating: 3.5/5 Summary: Lady Whitmore is a Countess without any money. When her Grandmother arranges a pathetic match for her, she decides to take fate into her own hands. Assuming the alias of her recently fired maid, Adelaide, she joins the Glittering Court. As Adelaide trains with other common ladies, she must kept her identity and knowledge a secret. A growing connection to Cedric Thorn complicates things when she learns a deadly secret about him. Now she’s determined to save him, but can she save […]