This book. Man, this book is exactly what I needed this past insanely crappy week. It’s a 4.5 star book, but I needed it so much I can’t give it anything less than a 5 right now. This is the first in a trilogy about Charlotte Holmes, a self-styled private investigator in Victorian London. It is fabulous. I adore the original Sherlock Holmes stories. They helped get me through a summer of studying for the Bar Exam. I was so obsessed that during my lunch […]
When I ignored my strongest feelings out of a misguided obligation to fairness, I had no feelings left
1.5 stars When I first started this book, I saw its potential: a marriage had fallen apart, ostensibly due to a wife’s coldness, while she herself seemed tortured by genuine love for her husband that she locked away inside herself for fear it was unrequited. Excited to learn the source of this inconsistency, and intrigued by the result of the marriage’s annulment — the wife takes up a series of international posts as a surgeon — I looked forward to unraveling the story. There will […]
Sherry Thomas branches out into young adult fantasy
Summary from Goodreads: It all began with a ruined elixir and a bolt of lightning. Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation – or so she has been told. The one prophesied for years to be the saviour of the Realm. It’s her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the most powerful tyrant and mage the world has ever known. This would be a suicide task for anyone, let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training. Guided by his […]
A historical romance with Chinese martial artists and past betrayals
Both books: 4 stars In Beijing in 1873, young Ying Ying discovers that her father is one of the white foreign devils, and while her mother is the pampered courtesan of an important court official, she’ll be lucky to ever make a suitable match. Her Amah starts training her in secret martial arts, so she’ll have a way to defend and support herself once she grows older. Over in England, young Leighton Atwood discovers that his parents have secrets, that it wouldn’t do for his […]