This rich and poignant fantasy grapples with the messy aftermath of destroying an evil overlord. Gorgeous, textured prose is filled with images of strange beauty and restrained horror. It propels an intricate narrative dense with subplots and rich in characters familiar and new. Weaving them together are all the lies: conspiracies and ciphers, fakes and false testimony, spies and thieves, disguises and deceptions, mazes and puzzles. They are lies spun from greed, shame, strategy, fear, duty - even kindness. And it is Bitterblue who, trapped in this net of deceit, must draw upon all her courage, cleverness and ferocious compassion to reveal the truth-and to care for those it shatters. Devastating and heartbreaking, this will be a disappointment for readers looking for a conventional happy ending. But those willing to take the risk will - like Bitterblue - achieve something even more precious: a hopeful beginning.
via the Kirkus review of Bitterblue (Graceling): Kristin Cashore
Whoa. Since when did Kirkus write such evocative reviews? AND GIVE ME THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW.
Source: amazon.com
Faust has written an odd book that reads as both a tribute and a farcical take on the classic mystery pulps of yore. I can’t say it worked for me, but I think there is definitely a niche out there for interested readers. As a devoted fan of romance novels, I was surprised to find myself thinking the sex gratuitous and overly-explict. The first third of the book read like the filler plot in a porno and I was frustrated by the lack of a concrete story. The sex scenes were not there to develop characters or plot and so I found them more distracting then titillating.
Mfred Reviews Double-D Double Cross by Christa Faust « The Lesbrary
More lesbian fiction reviews from yours truly! This time it’s a weird lesbian pulp private dick mystery novel.
Spoiler alert: I didn’t like it. But you might!
Source: lesbrary.wordpress.com
Good Lesbian Books: Lesbian Librarians in Books
Lesbrarian reading list.
It is not up the canal by any means! It’s not a portcullis halfway to the cervix! It’s not a barrier up the valley, a logjam obstructing the path of the river of love, a dam in the reservoir of passion. IT IS NOT INSIDE ANYTHING.
THE HYMEN IS EXTERNAL.
Smart Bitches does it again.
Source: smartbitchestrashybooks.com
Anne McCaffrey wasn’t just the inventor of Pern, the world where a whole society is based on dragon-riding. She was also an incredibly influential author who helped transform the way science fiction and fantasy authors wrote about women, and the way all of us thought about bodies and selfhood. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award, as well as a Grand Master of science fiction.
R.I.P. Anne McCaffrey, Creator of Pern and The Ship Who Sang
The first time I wandered into the Adult sci-fi/fantasy shelves at my local library, I picked up Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books (and Marion Zimmer Bradley and Mercedes Lackey).
Source: io9.com
bekaboo replied to your link: 9 Books That Made Us Terrified of Puberty | The Mary Sue
My 14 year old is reading Go Ask Alice, which I either didn’t read or read so long ago that I forgot. Should I be at all worried?
In retrospect, I think watching and then reading The Thorn Birds as a preteen was more influential to my psyche then the heavy-handed moralizing BS of Go Ask Alice.
Priests! Having sexy affairs in Australia! Sheep farming! Bryan Brown!
As long as your kid knows the whole Alice story is a big lie meant to scare girls from the dangers of sex n drugs n rock n roll, she should be cool.
9 Books That Made Us Terrified of Puberty | The Mary Sue
I was more traumatized reading all the dirty bits from my mom’s copy of Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them then Go Ask Alice.
As a modern day reader, I didn’t much like it. Laura, for being the star of the scandalous lesbian plot, fairly disappears from the book for the last half. When she is present, her character is presented as an underwhelming girl-child, always crying or about to cry. Beth’s motivations for wandering in and out of a lesbian romance are explained in the most facile psych 101 terms (she wasn’t loved enough as a child!). Charlie is an odd combination of tender and caveman, having his way in the name of Good & Manly Decision-making whenever the plot requires it.
Source: lesbrary.wordpress.com
President Obama approves this level of nerdy queerness.
