Tuesday 6 August 2013

Mini Book Reviews

I've been trying to read more lately, and I've finished a few books that I wanted to share my thoughts about. At some point I will post a larger review on Goodreads, but I thought I'd put something smaller here first.

I'll start with:

The Queen's Vow by C.W Gortner - I've never been disappointed by anything Gortner has written. I'd been waiting for more on the Spanish royal family since The Last Queen, one of my absolute favorite works of historical fiction. The Queen's Vow is about the early years of Isabella of Castile, the mother of Juana, the main character in The Last Queen.
I thought I might be bothered by the fact that Isabella's whole life wasn't covered in this book but I wasn't. It covers from her childhood until just after she and Fernando have a huge win against the Moors and I think that was just enough. Gortner's skill with words is incredible, and few people can do what he does. I recommend all of his books, and I'm looking forward to see what he does with Lucrezia Borgia.

The Last Word by Lisa Lutz - I'm a bit obsessed with Isabel Spellman and the Spellman series. I wish she was my best friend in real life. It's rare that I laugh out loud when reading and I've done that with every Spellman book to date. Lutz has wrote some of my favorite characters ever and I look forward to them. She even did an etiquette book, which is amazing!
If you enjoy amazing characters, a mystery, and some laughs, I recommend any and all of Lisa Lutz's books.

The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Pt 1 by L.J Smith - It took a little while for this book to pick up but once it did, Holy Shit is all I can say. I want to go by the next one. Right Now. And that rarely happens to me.
I originally picked this up because I was a huge fan of the tv series, and when it got cancelled I needed to get my fix somewhere. It's not identical to the tv show, thank goodness, and its hard to put it down once it picks up. It still deals with Cassie and what happens to her when she is moved to New Salem (Chance Harbor to the show's fans) by her Mother. If you're a Y.A fan you should pick this series up. And I ask those Vampire Diaries fans, are those books good as well? I couldn't get into the tv show but if the books are half as good as Secret Circle then I'll pick them up.


What am I reading now? I'm waiting for my copy of The White Princess by Philippa Gregory to be delivered, and Omens by Kelley Armstrong is coming very soon. But I might be buying L.J Smith's books tonight. Jesus.