Category Archives: Book Reviews

Review: Mercedes Lackey, Mark Shepherd & Holly Lisle – Wheels of Fire

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Wheels of Fire
Mercedes Lackey, Mark Shepherd & Holly Lisle
Al and Bob work as mechanics for a race car driving team. There’s just one catch – Al happens to be a centuries old elf and Bob a human fosterling brought up after being abused by his father. Al has a soft spot for children as it happens, and when he finds out Jamie is missing, he does everything he can to help.

This is one of the few books in this series that is told mainly from the perspective of an elf, Al. I found the extent of this a little disappointing to be honest – I didn’t feel a real connection to Al, and I didn’t feel like there was a real difference in the way he and Jamie thought.
The focus on all of these books seems to be the respect of children. There are some pretty horrifying things going on in this book – starvation and sensory deprivation of children under the age of 10 is not exactly nice. Not to mention torturing them with summoning the ‘Holy Fire’.
I liked Jamie. And you’re not really sure right up until the end whether he is going to survive or not. Joe is a bit of a dark horse, but it’s nice to hear some things from his perspective too. There’s a good balance here again, you don’t feel limited to only Al, yet the transitions are smooth.
The salamander in this novel is one of the few actual strange occurrences – once you get past the fact that there are urban elves. The flashback recounting Al’s previous experiences with salamanders is fascinating, and feels genuine and well researched. As a sometimes writer myself, I appreciate the effort that goes into writing a novel like this. I can’t believe that this book is a collaboration of three writers! It doesn’t come across that way at all, although I would have said that the dominant style would be that of Mercedes Lackey.
This book (the one I’m actually reviewing here, Wheels of Fire) can be found in an omnibus with the next in the series When the Bough Breaks. The novels have been grouped like that because of the authors involved, but the next two reviews I have done of The Chrome Bourne novels actually occur in between.
I’d recommend this book for adults, and mature teenagers. The cult does some very disturbing things that really aren’t for polite company. A warning for drugs, violence and supernatural themes I suppose!

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Review: E L James – Fifty Shades Freed

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Fifty Shades Freed
E L James
So I’ve now read the third book in this erotic set. I told myself I was doing a service to my reader community to finish reading all the damn things, so don’t prove me wrong!
13536860The same things that irritated me in the other novels are present in this one. The various stupid repetitive sex scenes, the say way of referring to Christian as Fifty! Yeah, not impressed. I am not going to read this book again, and I’m glad I didn’t buy myself copies as it would have been a waste of money.
The Jack Hyde storyline, particularly its conclusion, was poorly followed, and smacked of the author being told to just include a climax! (ha ha, climax, see what I did there?) Bringing back Laila didn’t really make all that much sense either, and didn’t really add anything – except getting someone fired!
As if I didn’t see Ana’s problems in this novel coming. First, boy meets girl (book1), then boy marries girl (book 2) and finally boy and girl have a family. I’m pretty sure I didn’t just ruin it for you – it was obvious that that was coming.
 
Something that is introduced more seriously into this book are the flashbacks. I think more could have been done there, and the writing style in those was just as poor as the rest of the time, but at least something was done to try change things up a bit! There were also more email conversations, which did add a little more to the narrative.
More Dr Flynn! He was really needed in this book, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t there whenhe was really needed! Christian breaks down far too quickly. He goes back on his ways rapidly, with little sense. The Elena storyline returns, but again, Ana is far too understanding.
Ana never learns. Christian doesn’t either. Her ‘sex’ is always wet and wanting for him. He doesn’t seem to get that she’s so sex mad. The pregnancy sex scenes at the end are sort of appalling – isn’t she thinking of the baby at all? Or maybe her toddler? Yeah, just sad.
 
I really struggled to find things to say about this book. It’s been a couple of days since I read it now, and I’ve read some other good, favourite books in the mean time, and I don’t really understand why I bothered finishing this trilogy. Perhaps I just felt like being a completionist! Also, they were really easy to read, and it’s boosting my total reviews ever closer to 100 (look out for a giveaway at that point).
 
ADULTS ONLY! It’s been described to me as a Twilight erotica – and I can sure see where that came from. A stupid female and a hunky man getting it on! It just needs a bit more of a love triangle.

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2star

Review: E L James – Fifty Shades Darker

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Fifty Shades Darker
E L James
I am appalled to admit that I’ve now read the second book in the ‘Fifty Shades’ trilogy. I want to say it was a waste of time, and it was in a way, but I didn’t have access to anything else to read, so it was at least some form of reading material! I didn’t like it any more than the first – but read on for my critique.
11857408The beginning to this novel is obvious after the ending of the first book. The weight Ana loses, and that fact that it is remarked upon a million times at the beginning, then just forgotten as they get back together again (I’m not spoiling anything for you here, it was obvious they would from this being a trilogy!). Naturally all those clothes that the private shopper bought still fit regardless.
I skimmed most of the sex scenes as boring, repetitive and in some cases, disgusting. I have to say that they’re well done for sex scenes if you must have them, but again, I felt cheap reading them. There is some relief to them, as James skips a couple, but the rest of the time Christian and Ana are at it like rutting dogs.
Ana is always stuck on how ‘beautiful’ Christian is. And when Christian comes, he always says ‘Oh Ana’. It gets way too repetitive and annoying. I know that Christian belongs to Ana, and that she loves him, so she doesn’t need to keep thinking about it! And his constant surprise that she is wet for him. Duh, she wouldn’t be kissing your face off if she wasn’t. Not to mention the constant ignition of her blood.
The ending is just pathetic. I found the whole helicopter gone wrong storyline as a weird adjunct to the rest of the book, and it felt like it had been tacked on just to add a bit of drama. Elena, yeah, not much I can say there, but that’s there, and it’s sort of annoying and pretty transparent. I could see the ending coming for that so easily too!
This book has the same obvious flaws as the first in that Ana refers to her subconscious and Inner Goddess as separate people. Those points basically broke any of the sexyness of the prelude to sex scenes that there was. Referring to Christian as Fifty is irritating too. Not to mention the ‘firsts’ they have together, and Christian’s jealousy even though Ana was a virgin, and of course she wouldn’t sleep with anyone else! 
 
Chaste kisses are handed out left right and centre. But they are never anything like that! It’s always leading into sex. I think at the end it turns out they have been together for a grand total of 16 days before Christian is wanting to have Ana as his forever.
The causes of those scars are so obvious to me. Ana is blissfully ignorant, and yet she’s willing to force Christian into doing what she wants. They are as bad as each other! Of course, it’s Ana that is portrayed as sexmad and insatiable. Christian is also that way, but Ana is just unforgivable. Her forays into sex games is interesting to an extent,
Something I thought that could have been worked more upon, but did work well, was the quick chapters with the shrink. Ana and Christian could sure do with more psychotherapy. Ana can not have just cured him! Forcing someone to do something doesn’t fix them, particularly with the issues that Christian professes to have.
Sometimes it feels like James should have just stuck to the romance and left out the drama. The helicopter, the Elena storyline and harrassment at Ana’s workplace. Pretty pathetic really. The harassment is something I ‘enjoyed’ because it broke things up a bit from the sex scenes. Oh! And the Leila storyline! So memorable I forgot to mention it until now. Seriously, a deranged woman is going to get past the ever-awesome Taylor? I don’t think so. Not believable at all.
I honestly don’t know why I keep reading these books. Maybe because I don’t own many books on the computer, and it is way too easy to just sit down and be distracted from my other work and read them, rather than hiding a book under my desk!

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Review: E L James – Fifty Shades of Grey

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Fifty Shades of Grey
E L James
This book is one that has been on bestseller lists everywhere for a while, and seems to be the modern woman’s novel of choice. I wasn’t that captivated by it, but then maybe I’m reading it for the wrong reasons *wink*
10818853I found chapter one sort of irritating. I don’t believe in cosmic connections or being overwhelmed by masculinity. I’ve never met a man I felt overwhelmed by. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places! But Ana was willing to just go with it all, despite reservations. Why does every woman feel that she can change a man?
Ana has far too much insight into Christian from the beginning, and I don’t understand how someone who is such a clutch, and obviously rather socially inept can possibly attract him. I can understand why Ana is attracted to such a relationship though! She seems like she can be pushed into anything very easily. Again, this changes throughout the book.
The first person present tense narration is a style I don’t usually read. Although it I found myself constantly frustated by stupid references to her subconscious and inner goddess. This is her mindstream! Of course she’s going to have different opinions in each part of her, they don’t need to be named. Complete with eye catching italics too.
The readers anticipation moves with Ana’s. As she feels drawn into Grey, the reader also feels that attraction. It’s not particularly well written, but I did feel compelled to read to the finish. Sometimes I just thought she was a complete and utter idiot. The Mrs Robinson storyline was sort of pathetic until the end. Apparently this is something developed more in the second book, which I would hope for. It’s almost enough to get me to read the second book, but we’ll see. I’d rather read a detailed synopsis without the sex scenes and get it over with.
The dialogue is stilted. There, I said it. Things such as ‘I’m not a hearts and flowers kind of man, I don’t do romance’ just seems very set up. I know that this is the kind of man that Christian Grey is, but I still didn’t feel it. And I certainly couldn’t understand the animal attraction Ana feels for him with such stunning lines! Or perhaps it was her unforgettable and awkward lines, such as ‘What is the time?’. It just didn’t fit in with her as a character.
I found myself grossed out by some of Ana’s thoughts. I’m not a prude by any means, but ‘I eye Christian’s toothbrush. It would be like having him in my mouth.’ is just wrong. She’s going to use a toothbrush of a man she’s basically just met and fantasise about it! Ew, she’s just spent some of the night vomiting, and then eaten breakfast, and now she’s going to brush her teeth with someone else’s toothbrush and spread her nasty germs. Healthy. This is a cheap novel. It made me feel cheap reading it. ‘Two orgasms… coming apart at the seas, like the spin cycle on a washing machine’. Statements like this kicked me out of the narrative, sexy as it was. It made the novel seem very amaturish.
The rules Ana must follow are laughable. Of course these things are likely to come up, but to see them written down in plain print. Sorry, maybe I’m just not a romantic, but I can’t believe that a woman would want to subject herself to that! Seriously, exercise 3 times a week? And it’s laughable what Christian is dictating when he has already told Ana to do things.
The sexual domination storyline which seems to be the major draw card for this book was transparent. Although Ana seems clueless (and a virgin), the reader can almost tell straight away what Christian is suggesting. I feel that it’s not even my foreknowledge of this book that told me that. p. 57 starts it all in an elevator!
I’m not sure if the PDF copies I obtained from the book club I am part of were sanctioned by E L James – I doubt it. This book is available in all the usual places (affiliate links to Amazon and TBD), and I’m sure you probably already own a copy or can obtain one even more quickly from a concrete store! I’m more interested in hearing what other people’s ideas are on it – too sexy, or just right?

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Review: Alison Goodman – Eon

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Eon
Alison Goodman
Eona is masquerading as a boy in order to become a Dragoneye. Little does she know that the dragon she thought she would have would never be hers! Well, not in the way she imagined anyway.

7261699I thought that the beginning of this novel, perhaps the first third although compelling, was a little slow to get started. There weren’t any wasted words, but nor was there a thrilling progression. The different plot points are slowly introduced, and the various characters fleshed out.

As befitting a well-crafted novel, it was obvious to me things that Eona just did not acknowledge. Like the pearls getting looser on her arm when she takes the Sun drug. And a whole host of other things that suggested that being a female is an asset, not a burden.
Eona has to suppress her emotions so much of the time that it can become muddled to the reader whether she really feels anything. This novel is written in first person, so it may be frustrating at some points. I think I really didn’t feel was the secret that Chase held for the Master, although that all was ok in the end too.

I did want more more more from this book. The ending is thrilling! I didn’t even realise I was holding my breath. It’s hard to tell what is going to happen next, because the end seems bleak. I guess that’s why there is a sequel! There is a definite advantage to picking up popular book late when the series is already finished or well started. No waiting to see what happens next!

I picked this book up 1. because it had dragons and 2. it had a recommendation from Tamora Pierce on the front! It didn’t disappoint me – a pleasant and easy teenage read. I would certainly recommend it, and I have the sequel siting in my luggage just waiting for me to read and love it!

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Review: Kristin Cashore – Graceling

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Graceling
Kristin Cashore
Katsa is Graced with fighting. In fact, not just fighting, but killing and maiming effortlessly. In working for her uncle Katsa has performed multiple things that she regrets – but she thinks of herself as a killer anyway, so nothing matters.

3236307The perspective of this novel is third person, usually focalised through Katsa. If I put the book down briefly (you know, for those essential stops like toilet breaks and food!) I sometimes found it hard to slip back into the narrative. Once I was in there though, Katsa’s character was laid bare the majority of the time. Po’s insights into her character also assist with that. He knows how she is feeling before she does!

Just as I noticed in the last book I reviewed, the start of this book is a little slow to get going but it quickly builds up. There is no sense of danger for me until they get to dealing with Leck, but I suppose some of the fighting and so forth had potential. It did sustain my interest – I wanted to see how Katsa could improve as a character, and then there were so many other things happening!
I’d even go so far as to say this book is inspired, I loved the concept of Graces. It seemed unfair to me that the ‘useless’ ones were just sent back to their families if they failed at court. Some things, like climbing trees, surely that has to be good for warfare, or mapping a forest? Or swimming seemed like a versatile talent, perfectly suited for being a sailor. You wonder how many Graces there really are, how many different varieties. I suppose it is ironic that Katsa seems to fear mind-reading Graces, but usually she doesn’t know her own mind anyway.

Something I didn’t understand was Katsa’s utter dislike and mistrust of marriage! I mean, it didn’t sound so bad, particularly with her chosen partner. Yeah, she didn’t like dresses, but that was because her uncle insisted on forcing her into them, and so surely she will like them later? Surely at one point marriage might be a survival tactic.

The ending of this book had the potential to be heartbreaking. Poor Po! So strong, and yet his Grace both hinders and helps him concentrate. Oh man, and Leck is so evil. You never know what he is going to suggest next! I don’t know why they didn’t think of wax for Katsa’s ears though, that would have worked quite well.
You know, all the recent hype about the Hunger Games, and I still haven’t read them. But I do know that the main character is called ‘Katniss’ or the like. So the naming of this character Katsa (although I’m pretty sure this book has been around longer)
The ‘sequel’ to this book, Bitterblue, will be published soon in a paperback I hope, so then I can read it! There is also a ‘prequel’ called Fire, which I would also like to pick up. This book was that enjoyable that I can’t wait to get my hands on the others. They aren’t really related, but they are placed in the same world and there is some character crossover (obviously enough for Bitterblue).I’d recommend this book firmly in the teenage category. The style is not particularly adult to me, because it was an easy read. A very enjoyable read, but easy nonetheless. If you’re like me, and enjoy teenage fiction despite being an adult, go for it! There are some minor sex scenes in this book, nothing that is going to offend an advanced child reader either.

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 picked this up from Barnes and Noble while I was overseas!4star

Review: Blake Charlton – Spellwright

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Spellwright
Blake Charlton
Nicodemus Weal is both blessed and cursed. Once thought to be the saviour of humanity, his ability with spells is actually warped so that he misspells everything creating chaos. This sound bad enough, but add re-emerging golems and a couple of murders and you have a real recipe for disaster.
6703145The idea of this book came from the author’s own dyslexia which I think adds a lovely depth and essential detail to the novel. Personal experience can be such a weath to mine and produce something wonderful. In this case, it is an extremely complicated and novel system of word forging. As the novel progresses, the reader is introduced to more of the complex spellwriting languages.
The introductory chapter of this book was unnecessarily wordy, even if it did explain well the system of magic operating in this world. The magic system was what redeemed this book for me, and I only wish there had been a better way of explaining how it worked, and I also would have liked some more information about the other languages.

Nicodemus and Shannon are really flat, transperant characters. Nicodemus was sure he was the chosen one, even when he wasn’t obviously one. Even with the million hints pointing to him being something else, he wasn’t able to realise that! Plus he should have kept a better grip on that damn emerald. As if you wouldn’t sew it into your skin so you didn’t lose it again. I actually liked Shannon, and although he wasn’t fleshed out, I still empathised with him, and felt sorry for him.

The twist with the Druid wasn’t lead up to properly, and I didn’t understand her stupid fits at all! Nicodemus was far too trusting, and noone seemed able to make the obvious connections that were there. The rest of the time the Druid didn’t make sense, and her place in the Arc’s protection was not obvious. The reader wasn’t even able to make the same connections as Nicodemus about her magic abilities, because they weren’t given enough information.

The perspective changes in this novel could have been used more, but they did work for me. I just wished I had had more information on the motives of all parties, rather than the focus on Nicodemus (although he was the main character, the other characters were equally important I think).

I’d say that this book was suitable for both teens and adults in terms of content, although the style of writing is certainly for adults. It wasn’t a bad book, just not an outstanding one because I didn’t connect with the main character. There is another book in this series (it is a triology) and although I enjoyed this book (mainly due to the magic system, not the characters), the sequel is not on my ever-growing to-read-soon list.

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 I purchased this book while I was on holidays from Barnes and Noble.3star

Review: Tanya Huff – The Enchantment Emporium

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The Enchantment Emporium
Tanya Huff
Alysha, or Allie, is a third circle Gale. A little confused? I was too. Anyway, Allie is in deep, suddenly moving across country to find the cause of her Grandmother’s sudden appearance.

5552232Ok, so the magic in this world seems based on sex. They have everything going, the couples partner themselves up for the circle rituals, and then they have to have sex right away because they’re all horny. But it’s not expressed that way, and the sex isn’t explicit. Just that every time they hand out some magic, sex is required.

I have to confess I’ve never read or bought any of Tanya Huff’s novels before. I’m not really sure why. I’ve enjoyed several short stories she has written in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar anthologies and have certainly seen her name around.
The first, second and third circle things involving Gale girls were really confusing for me. As far as I could tell, aunties were in the first circle because they had already had multiple children, and perhaps had their husbands die? Anyway, they seem to be the most powerful but only if they are in a group. Second circle makes connections and are a bit wild. They also appear to be partnered. Third circle are those that aren’t partnered and have less power.
Some of the family connections were confusing. Michael seemed important, and I thought maybe he was part of Allie’s family, or whether it was something else. Her brother David, I couldn’t work out why they were so worried about him when Allie’s grandfather was normal.
Huff is very good at describing things. I got stuck into the story and I couldn’t put it down, particularly towards the end. So there were a couple of things that jolted me out of the story, which I’ve mentioned, but overall it was enjoyable and I’ll certainly go on to read more of Huff’s books.
Getting past all that, the plot is really quite complicated, and very enjoyable. There’s the Gran disappearing line, and then Allie’s developing complicated relationship with a sorcerer’s sidekick, and then the dragons and the spare dragons and everything!
I found the perspective changes at the beginning quite confusing. It was a bit of a mystery story for a while, even for the reader, which I found slightly frustrating. Things cleared up though and there was far more action going on.
 
The ending! Yes! Man, I never worked that out at all. I loved the way this book covered a range of genres – romance, mystery and a heavy helping of fantasy.
I’d love to see a sequel to this book. I feel like if only there was just that little bit more explanation for what the Gale girls actually are, and the abilities of the different people in the circle, or maybe even just some more background information on the Gale family, this would be an awesome book, not just a great one.
I’d recommend this book for adults only. Sex magic is a common theme, which is relatively spread throughout the book (no avoiding it, sorry). I didn’t find it uncomfortable to read, but some teenagers may object.

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I picked this up from Barnes and Noble while I was overseas!4star

Review: Kathryn Lasky – Daughters of the Sea: Hannah

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Daughters of the Sea: Hannah
Kathryn Lasky
Hannah has been brought up in an institute for orphans, yet she feels a yearning for something more. She is surprisingly well educated, yet she can’t guess what she is going to become. Some transparent drama complicates Hannah’s life, yet she doesn’t know she can move on.

0-439-78310-0Hannah was tolerable. I was really very disappointed in this book. There was no depth. Hannah is a flat character, the three sisters are flat characters and the painter is rather like a cameo. Something I did like was the way the beautiful painting was described in great detail. I would have liked to see more of the painter’s work, and know what happened to the painting once it was defaced.

The family’s rather sudden sympathy for Hannah makes no sense. The reader doesn’t see her socialising with the staff, and although she gets along well with Ettie, I don’t think it was shown clearly enough that Ettie had come to love her. I’d almost say there was too much telling and not enough showing.
I knew almost from the beginning what Hannah was, it was so blindingly obvious. Transparent, that’s what I’d call this book. Transparent and unsatisfying. Not unreadable like Wit’ch Fire, but still not great. No real danger in the book to satisfy the reader, not even really any anticipation. The cat Jade and her owner Lila are nasty, irrational and mean but they don’t really do anything to Hannah.
 
The book is Americanised to an extreme. Hannah travels from Boston to Kansas. See, I have some knowledge of geography, but only very little bit. So I felt almost completely lost. I’m sure Americans might appreciate the localisation more.
The ending was quite unsatisfying. Too open ended for me, and I just couldn’t love the way Hannah thought she could choose anything she wanted. The question of Lila wasn’t answered. Worse still, the next book in the series (there was a small excerpt at the end of this book) doesn’t seem to be about Hannah, and what she found. I’m just glad I didn’t get the sequel which was right next to it in the store.
I picked this book up while on my overseas holiday, and was actually tempted to just leave it at the house I was staying at. If I’ve met my weight limit when flying home, this one will not be returning with me. I don’t think it’s worth a second read – not enough depth.
Although this is marketed to young adult readers, I’d recommend this book for children who can’t see through transparent plots. Normally I would be relatively tolerant of perceived inadequacies in children’s books – they aren’t aimed at adults like me – but in this case, I’m not sure there were any really good redeeming qualities.
In my opinion, save your money, but if you’re still interested:

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – The Fire Rose

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The Fire Rose
Mercedes Lackey
As a scholar of ancient history Rose is a well studied young woman. Unfortunately, her father has left her with multiple debts and no way to pay them. A position found by her old teacher seems to be the answer to her problems, but all is not as it seems.

176881Rose is such an insightful character. If she wasn’t a scholar, I would probably call Lackey out for fancifully making a character too knowledgeable – but Rose is believable, if you think of her as the PhD student she almost was.

It seems at some times like the entirety of this book is based on irony! All the time Paul and Jason are at opposite ends of the spectrum, both thinking that they have the upper hand, when really it’s Rose who has the idea of what is going on! And other times it is Rose and Jason who don’t seem to be compatible.
As one of Lackey’s earlier works (the first in the Elemental Masters series) this is a great example of Lackey’s style before she started churning out lesser quality books recently. The characters are well developed, there are several minor plots going on, and the whole thing is seamless.
Paul is disgusting. I really don’t like him – and I’m not supposed to. His character alters this novel from being a simple Beauty and the Beast fairytale retelling into something with more depth. By rights this novel should have been part of my offerring for the Midsummer Night’s Giveaway, but I was overseas and away from my bookshelf.
I thought that Rose’s initial idea of suicide was reasonable, but the way that Lackey brought it back in later in the story seemed a little absurd, and really stuck out for me. There was no need to talk about it several times – Rose has enough going on as it is.
I’d recommend this book for adults and older teens. There are many hints of rape and torture and various other unsavoury practices, but none of them are actually described in real detail, other than the horrible little cribs.

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Personally I buy all my books from The Book Depository because shipping is cheaper to Australia.4star