Books #16 to #18
Hmm, I'm definitely behind the curve on my reading for the year if I'm going to make 50. It's just startling to me how little time I seem to have to read, even though I would love to read more.
#16 The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall
I'll admit, I bought this book because I found it at the used book store, the title sounded intriguing and the book art was pretty. I really didn't like it. First, there was no concubine. I concluded by the time I was done reading that the title was solely what it was for the shock value. The overall story was somewhat interesting. A young girl and her Russian mother are forced out of Russia during the revolution and are stuck in China trying to survive. Lydia, the young girl, steals to try and keep her drunk mother and her in a home and manages to get herself into trouble one day and a young man who is a Chinese Communist rescues her. The story went downhill from there. They fall in love in about two seconds and their whole love story is implausible. There were also parts of the book that were overly graphic in violent or sexual ways and I felt like again that it was for the shock value. And the overall conclusion for the book was a bit of a cliffhanger. Apparently there is a sequel. Which I will not be buying.
#17 The Temptation of the Nigh Jasmine by Lauren Willig
I was so excited to find this hardback at a used book at a store in Albuquerque when I was there a few weeks ago. I read it in one day. And after the last book in the series, which while enjoyable did feel a bit off to me, I loved this one. I especially loved the love story with Charlotte and Robert. Her childlike crush on him and how that evolved, as well as his transition from a soldier to a duke were a little sad as they hurt each other, but also beautiful in how they resolved everything. I was a little disappointed in Eloise and Colin's love story. It felt a little pushed to the side and glossed over. I have to admit that with these stories I couldn't even really recap where things are in the overall spying going on between England and France in the books but I suppose since they really are heavier on the romance and light on the historical fiction side that it doesn't matter. I'm looking forward to the next one! Something tells me Penelope might be next!
#18 Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
The idea of this story intrigued me. Girl has crush on boy in school. Girl and boy have a fierce and powerful first love connection. Boy ups and leaves girl at the end of high school. Boy becomes a famous rock star, writing songs about girl and all the intimate details of their lives. Boy comes home and girl finally gets the chance to confront him. I wasn't real fond of the flashing back and forth. It was purely to keep details of the story and characters hidden and at a certain point I felt like enough was enough and it was time to bring the reader in on things. But the story doesn't come full circle until the very last page. It just seemed tedious. And I felt like the "boy" in the story got dumped on an awful lot. He wasn't the best person in the world but everyone in the story seemed to blame him for every little thing wrong on their lives and didn't even acknowledge some of the problems he faced and that some of the things he did were valid. An ok book but not one I'd recommend.
#16 The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall
I'll admit, I bought this book because I found it at the used book store, the title sounded intriguing and the book art was pretty. I really didn't like it. First, there was no concubine. I concluded by the time I was done reading that the title was solely what it was for the shock value. The overall story was somewhat interesting. A young girl and her Russian mother are forced out of Russia during the revolution and are stuck in China trying to survive. Lydia, the young girl, steals to try and keep her drunk mother and her in a home and manages to get herself into trouble one day and a young man who is a Chinese Communist rescues her. The story went downhill from there. They fall in love in about two seconds and their whole love story is implausible. There were also parts of the book that were overly graphic in violent or sexual ways and I felt like again that it was for the shock value. And the overall conclusion for the book was a bit of a cliffhanger. Apparently there is a sequel. Which I will not be buying.
#17 The Temptation of the Nigh Jasmine by Lauren Willig
I was so excited to find this hardback at a used book at a store in Albuquerque when I was there a few weeks ago. I read it in one day. And after the last book in the series, which while enjoyable did feel a bit off to me, I loved this one. I especially loved the love story with Charlotte and Robert. Her childlike crush on him and how that evolved, as well as his transition from a soldier to a duke were a little sad as they hurt each other, but also beautiful in how they resolved everything. I was a little disappointed in Eloise and Colin's love story. It felt a little pushed to the side and glossed over. I have to admit that with these stories I couldn't even really recap where things are in the overall spying going on between England and France in the books but I suppose since they really are heavier on the romance and light on the historical fiction side that it doesn't matter. I'm looking forward to the next one! Something tells me Penelope might be next!
#18 Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
The idea of this story intrigued me. Girl has crush on boy in school. Girl and boy have a fierce and powerful first love connection. Boy ups and leaves girl at the end of high school. Boy becomes a famous rock star, writing songs about girl and all the intimate details of their lives. Boy comes home and girl finally gets the chance to confront him. I wasn't real fond of the flashing back and forth. It was purely to keep details of the story and characters hidden and at a certain point I felt like enough was enough and it was time to bring the reader in on things. But the story doesn't come full circle until the very last page. It just seemed tedious. And I felt like the "boy" in the story got dumped on an awful lot. He wasn't the best person in the world but everyone in the story seemed to blame him for every little thing wrong on their lives and didn't even acknowledge some of the problems he faced and that some of the things he did were valid. An ok book but not one I'd recommend.