My experience with short story collection leaves me with one general rule of thumb about them: in any given collection, most stories will be just oka...moreMy experience with short story collection leaves me with one general rule of thumb about them: in any given collection, most stories will be just okay, a few will be standouts, a few will be bad or worse. Supernatural Noir falls right into line with that rule.
While none of the stories are outright terrible, most are just fair to middling. There are some standouts, however; Melanie Tem's "Little Shit," Joe Lansdale's "Dead Sister," Tom Picirilli's "But For Scars," and, surprisingly, Caitlin R. Kiernan's "The Maltese Unicorn" ("surprisingly" because I'd read only one Kiernan book before this story, and hated it with such a passion that I refused to read any more) are the great stories of this collection. They're the ones that balance the noir and supernatural aspects perfectly, whether it be in the mere ghostly whispers in "But For Scars" or the entire world has embraced the supernatural as in "The Maltese Unicorn".
The rest of the stories are okay. Solid enough, for the most part, but not as strong or as memorable as the ones listed above, and some seemed to struggle with the noir/supernatural balance well.
My only question is: Why isn't there a Jim Butcher story in this collection?(less)
This book really helps deal with guilt. The process is easy to learn and very very effective, and I can't recommend it enough. to people dealing with...moreThis book really helps deal with guilt. The process is easy to learn and very very effective, and I can't recommend it enough. to people dealing with guilt issues.
I did have to deduct a star for length; the process is more than adequately explained in the first two chapters, and the grand majority of the rest of the book is filled with examples. . .which, after the third one, really aren't necessary. Points for a succinct, useful, and brief description of the process, minus points for too many examples.
Other than the small flaw I've mentioned, this is a great self-help book!(less)
Okay, so superheroes-in-politics isn't exactly a new idea. Obscure DC heroine Firehawk is a senator in her alter ego, Lex Luthor was President of the...moreOkay, so superheroes-in-politics isn't exactly a new idea. Obscure DC heroine Firehawk is a senator in her alter ego, Lex Luthor was President of the US for a while, and even Captain America seriously considered running for President.
But Brian K. Vaughan gives the idea a great new spin.
Ex Machina is the story of Mitchell Hundred, who, after an accident with an artifact of unknown origin gifted him with the ability to talk to and hear machines, became the hero The Great Machine (hence the title)- his world's only superhero. A few months of that, though, and he decided to try to help his beloved hometown of New York City a different way: by revealing his secret identity and running for mayor.
Unfortunately, no one cared.
Way, way, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down in the polls two months before the election, Mitchell suits up one last time, for one last day as The Great machine before he fades into obscurity.
Guess what day it was?
As Mitchell himself says at the end of the first issue, "If I was really a hero. . .I would have been here in time to stop the first plane."
And so the hero of New York became the Mayor of New York.
This is the story of Mitchell's first 100 days as mayor, and, I have to say, the most impressive thing about this book is that it never loses its grounding in reality. Mitchell doesn't fight aliens or would-be world conquerors; he deals with crooked politicians,attention-seeking (and race-baiting) artists, and people who think their causes is worth the death of others - the same crap we have to deal with in real life. In every story arc so far (I've only read up to book 5), the stories have been very grounded, either by the reality of the situations he encounters or the well-fleshed-out personalities of the people involved.
This is great stuff, and great for people who don't normally read comics. Highly recommended.(less)
Somewhere, in the ever-fluctuating meta-topographical landscape of the collective human consciousness, there is a line. It's not a big line, and it t...moreSomewhere, in the ever-fluctuating meta-topographical landscape of the collective human consciousness, there is a line. It's not a big line, and it too fluctuates, but it's an important line.
It's the line between selfless bravery and complete bats**t insanity.
The women of the Soviet Union's three female air regiments (99% of which were volunteers) lived on that line for four years. They lived on it, slept on it, danced across it in whichever direction the situation called for as needed. Take, for example, the tale of a navigator forced to walk out on the wing of her aircraft and fix it when it was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, 600 meters in the air. Or the tail-gunner of a bomber that was blown out of her seat by an anti-aircraft shell exploding, through a hatch, and onto the fuselage, saved only by her parachute harness getting caught on a machine gun.
There has to be a whole hell of a lot of patriotism, and more than a little insanity, behind being willing to face Germany, a country with rapidly-advancing technology, the world's first jet fighter planes moving five times faster than you, and an incredible war machine, while strapped into a World War I-era biplane made of wood and cloth. . .oh, and without a parachute.
Make no mistake, these women are extremely patriotic. Even knowing their country was flawed, unfair, and intolerant of dissidence, they still went to arms when their homeland was attacked. Every page of this book is filled with first-hand amazing, harrowing, hair-raising accounts of around-the-clock bombing raids, crash-landings in enemy territory, and terrible conditions; these brave, crazy women went years on only 2 to 4 hours of sleep a day, sleeping in trenches, in pits, under their planes, wherever they could find some space. After the war, many of them were forced to retire from health due to health issues left over from frontline combat, meaning doing the very flying that they loved so much had brought their careers to a halt.
I'm very glad to have read this book. The bravery, courage, and pure patriotism displayed by these pilots, navigators, and mechanics are things this world needs more of.
One pilot spoke of the attitudes towards the war. None of them wanted to fight it, she said, but they knew everyone had to fight the invaders and only wanted to do their part. (Contrast that with the US Women's Air Corps, which had female pilots but kept them away from any actual combat.) Having seen the horrors of war, she and many of her compatriots felt they wanted no more of it. In her words, "If all the women of the world united, there would be no more war!"
That's a wonderful sentiment, and a wonderful dream. . .(less)
I really felt like I was there, in a prosperous Afghanistan in 1975, before the Soviet invasion, up to the i...moreThis is a breathtaking book.
I really felt like I was there, in a prosperous Afghanistan in 1975, before the Soviet invasion, up to the invasion in the 80s, and back again after the Taliban took power.
When the narrator feels shame and self-loathing at his own actions, I felt it right along with him. When he feels, really, anything, I couldn't help but be swept up in the emotions right along with him.
Well-written, beautiful, tragic, thought-provoking. . .I can't heap enough praise on this book.(less)
I'm a bit of a Grisham fan; I have to admit he does courtroom drama well. He even mixes it well with comedy, as in The Brethren. In addition to tha...moreI'm a bit of a Grisham fan; I have to admit he does courtroom drama well. He even mixes it well with comedy, as in The Brethren. In addition to that, he often writes about our shared home state, a place that is a lot more interesting and fascinating than it gets credit for in most literature.
With all those reasons to like Grisham, I was still apprehensive about Playing For Pizza. It's not a courtroom drama at all; it's about a severely down-on-his-luck pro football player who, with no American teams wanting him after a disastrous loss (seriously, it was quite painful to read), is forced to accept an offer from an Italian team. Skeptical about the prospect and still hoping to get back onto a "real" team, he goes to play for them. Adventure, hilarity, and mouth-watering descriptions of Italian food ensue.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Worth the four stars, easily. You come to care about the flawed protagonist and want the sleazy sports reporter who hounds and insults him to get punched in the mouth. It also shows that Grisham spent a lot of time in Italy and loved it; his love shows through in every description of the people, the architecture, and the food. . .especially the food.
I want to go to Italy now, and eat. A lot.
Great read, quick read, looking forward to more non-courtroom-drama books from John Grisham.(less)
**spoiler alert** NOTE: I'm going to save myself some time and trouble by doing this one review for all three books in this trilogy. Yes, I am lazy....more**spoiler alert** NOTE: I'm going to save myself some time and trouble by doing this one review for all three books in this trilogy. Yes, I am lazy.
That said. . .
The Sign of Seven Trilogy wants so, so, desperately badly to be Stephen King's IT. All the elements are there:
1. ancient evil rises to terrify a town every so often (every 7 years in Sign of Seven trilogy; every 20-30 in IT),
2. group of friends that battled said evil in their youth must reunite to combat the evil again (7 friends in IT; 3 guys in SST that are joined this time by 3 women),
3. a little romance (the one girl in the group hooks up with one of the guys in IT; each of the 3 guys in SST hooks up with one of the 3 women. . .okay, a LOT of romance in that one),
4. paranormal abilities and occurences around the main characters, small clashes with ancient evil lead up to big dramatic final battle (cosmos-spanning battle in IT; for SST, ummmmm. . .not so much), and
5. last but not least, a crappy TV miniseries based on the book (ABC made one for IT in 1987 starring John Ritter, Richard Lewis, and Harry Anderson; there has not been one announced yet for SST but given the Lifetime Network's love of Nora Roberts, it's probably coming).
Basically, again, SST wants to be IT. That was the first thing that came to mind as I was reading the first book, as soon as I got a sense of what's going on.
And it falls so tragically, disappointingly, heart-breakingly short.
I'm not going to compare the trilogy to IT; it's obviously going to come off all the worse for the comparison. But it doesn't do so hot standing on its own, either.
The demonic villain, referred to as Twisse, never seems to say exactly why he wants to destroy the town so badly. If it's just simple vengeance against the ancestors of the people that defeated it centuries ago, really, why not just kill them and go? Why get locked into this stupid cycle? I get that it wants vengeance and all, and that these ancestors hold perhaps the only power on earth capable of killing it, but really, if this one place on the entire planet has exactly what's needed to kill you, wouldn't you stay away from it? Or at least not go giving people a reason to come kill you?
The heroes and heroines are initially very distinct in their personalities, but as the series progresses, they start blurring together so that, towards the end, I found myself having to check again and again to see who's saying what.
The small-town setting is a charming one, and it works well for the story. There is a lot of love and the characters are pretty well developed, at least until the end, in the story, though there are times when the supporting characters are a little more interesting than the heroes. The sex scenes are pretty good, though a couple feel a bit forced and awkward.
All that said, the series is pretty good. . .right up until the end, when it just all falls apart. It falls apart so badly that I subtracted a star and half for the ending alone.
After all the buildup, all the struggle, all the conflict and pain and tears getting to that final battle. . .it's over in less than ten pages, with a very short epilogue. The end was more of a messy amorphic blob than Twisse turned out to be, in the end. Speaking as someone that loves startegy and tactics and fighting games, the final battle is so nonsensical and disjointed that, given the solidity of the structure and writing to that point, I wondered if it had been ghostwritten. It felt very rushed, pushed too far too fast, and it definitely suffered for the impatience. On top of that, one minor line from one of the earlier books is all that saved the climactic ending from being a complete deus ex machina, making it more "deus ex extremely small and unimportant detail."
And in the end, SST still tries to be IT. Gage's journey into a seemingly endless void, Cal's father's view of the destruction raining down on their small town while the battle is being fought elsewhere, the defeat of the beast by both literal and metaphysical destruction of its heart, the reflections upon and glimpses of the damage the beast had done in previous rampages through the town. . .all these things are parallels from IT, and paralleled so much that I more-than-half-expected a Turtle of enormous girth to show up (though, perhaps to avoid copyright issues, it would have been called "a plus-size tortoise").
Stephen King, check your wallet, mate. I think you've been nicked.
What amazes me the most here is, that with such similar setups, King still told the better story 20+ years ago. IT is not a short read; in fact, it's longer than all three books in the SST trilogy put together. But if you're not a die-hard La Nora fan, or a sucker for a semi-action-packed romance, go read IT instead.
This trilogy comprises the first Nora Roberts work I've ever read. I'll give her a try again, because there are enough good things about the characters and story here that the trilogy held on to one star despite its own ending, but I'll also be trying in hopes that whatever I read next from her will be a bit more original and less blatantly derivative.(less)
I loved this book, but I honestly don't know what to say about it. It's a great, great book. I loved the romance, the story, the plot, the character...moreI loved this book, but I honestly don't know what to say about it. It's a great, great book. I loved the romance, the story, the plot, the characters (I loved the heroine and wanted to be the hero *s*). Please don't tell my silence as some sort of dislike or disapproval; it's just that I'm running out of positives adjectives to use to describe Rynne Raines' work. You're exhausting my supply of compliments, Rynne.
**spoiler alert** Here's two things that you probably know pretty well:
1. Batman - Bruce Wayne, parents gunned down, millionaire playboy,...more**spoiler alert** Here's two things that you probably know pretty well:
1. Batman - Bruce Wayne, parents gunned down, millionaire playboy, crimefighter, peak of physical and mental perfection, yadda, yadda, yadda
2. Cranky Old Men - angry, perhaps mean, "Get the hell off my lawn," yadda, yadda, yadda
So, let's take these two things and put them together, and you have a well-muscled, highly intelligent cranky old man that can and will kick your ass, then give you two for flinching, just to be a bastard about it. That's the Batman that we have in The Dark Knight Returns.
When the story starts, it's in the near future, and all the superheroes have long since retired, driven away by political machinations, villains, or, in the case of Batman, the death of Robin (side note: it seems pretty implausible that Robin would ever be killed off when this story came out, but three years later, it happened). The world is not a better place without them, Ronald Reagan is somehow still President(this was written in 1985, remember), and Gotham City may be the worst off, as it is being overrun by a new street gang in the absence of villains like Two-Face, the Joker, et al. In short, in a bad world, Gotham is the worst city, and going down the tubes fast. . .
And then Batman comes out of retirement.
And he's pissed.
And he pisses off everybody, from criminal defense lawyers to the ACLU to psychiatrists to mothers' groups (who claim he is a bad influence on children) to the police department to talk show hosts to TV news talking heads all the way to the President, who needs something big in the news to distract the world from his political errors (sound familiar?)
This is a Batman without restraint, who breaks bones with glee as he hospitalizes Two-Face, decimates the leader of the new gang, nearly kills the Joker, and finishes up by giving Superman (whom the President sends to take Batman down) the most vicious beating ever bestowed upon somebody named Clark.
As bad as this Batman is, compared to the people he's fighting against, he's still the good guy, and you, like me, will still cheer for him.
The absolute best thing about this book, or perhaps the saddest, is that Frank Miller's brilliant political, social, and media commentaries in this book are every bit as relevant now as they were then, 22 years ago. It's like we haven't really changed at all, and that's truly saddening. But I'm glad it's there, and maybe those commentaries will make you a bit more conscious and think a bit more about politics, politicians, the media, and society.
A comic book thank makes you think. . .not a common thing.
And it stars a cranky old man.
(P.S. For those that really know me, this book is what inspired my Americana poems, so yes, it has been influential on me. *s*) (less)
I must admit, I'm not really into BDSM. A little light tying up, maybe a blindfold, some candle wax here and there, and a little spanking is about as...moreI must admit, I'm not really into BDSM. A little light tying up, maybe a blindfold, some candle wax here and there, and a little spanking is about as far as I've yet been willing to go. That said, only one authoress has been able to write BDSM in such a way that I've enjoyed reading it, and that authoress is Jacqueline Carey, in her Kushiel series.
Until Ms. Raines came along, with Welcome To Eden.
I liked it very much, following the book-smart-but-kink-naive Caitlyn Ward on her journey into Eden. The sensual writing made the whole experience pleasurable beyond its BDSM trappings and made it, instead of just a kinkster fantasy, something passionate, sexual, and just plain hot in ways that anybody could enjoy. The dom and power-game aspects took it down to 4 stars instead of 5 for me, but make no mistake: it's still a damn good read, recommended for any fan of erotic writing!(less)
This book is the companion to Banewreaker, which I've already reviewed; I'd really recommend re...more(The above date is my most recent reading.)
This book is the companion to Banewreaker, which I've already reviewed; I'd really recommend reading that review first.
As for this one, well. . .the first time I read it, I screamed at it more than once. Just saying.
There are only three words to describe this book.
The first is, "grey." Like the first book, it has no absolutes of good and evil; morality and truth continue to be purely subjective here.
The second word is "excellent." If I hadn't already been a fan of the creative, talented, and lovely Jacqueline Carey, this book would have sealed it for me.
The third word is "gut-wrenching." It hurt, reading the last four chapters of this book, and that, to me, is a sign of its excellence.
(The date above applies to my most recent reading.)
If you're looking for epic battles, mighty and mysterious powers clashing in a fierce b...more(The date above applies to my most recent reading.)
If you're looking for epic battles, mighty and mysterious powers clashing in a fierce battle for survival, this book is a great place to look for that.
If you're looking for a battle with clear-cut, cleanly defined sides of good and evil. . .walk away. Run away. Fast.
This book and its companion, Godslayer, are the absolute greyest books I've ever read, by which I mean that the characters do not fall into such simple categories as merely "good" and "evil." Instead, they all act as they feel they must, and in that, all of them believe that they are right, and Jacqueline Carey spins the tale in such a manner that it's completely up to the reader which side, if either, is truly "good" or "evil." And she does this on the framework of another well-known archetypal fantasy series, with an examination of the characters and motivations that may change the way you look at that series as well.
These two books provoked great philosophical debate among me & me about the subjective natures of good and evil, and provoked a lot of thought on the topics. I heartily, highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something a bit more real in their fantasy reading, something a bit more human, more grey, and only heartily recommend it to others. *s*
The back cover of the book asks, "If all that is good thinks you're evil... are you?"
Are you?
It's a hard question, I will admit, but looking for the answer makes for an excellent book.
Good, engrossing, funny action-fantasy. The dialogue scenes are just as good as the combat, and, due to the faux-archaic language used, usually funni...moreGood, engrossing, funny action-fantasy. The dialogue scenes are just as good as the combat, and, due to the faux-archaic language used, usually funnier. One of my favourite books by Brust.(less)
This is the most f$#@-ed up book I've ever read, and that's saying something, considering I'm a big fan of Garth Ennis and Barbara Gowdy.
T...moreThis is the most f$#@-ed up book I've ever read, and that's saying something, considering I'm a big fan of Garth Ennis and Barbara Gowdy.
There's no other way to describe this book. While some of the subjects that Ellis touches upon here were covered in his other books like Bad World, this time he puts those into a narrative, and, well. . .
It's an awesome book, a great journey across America, from coast to coast. Some would say it's America's "underbelly," "underworld," or "demimonde;" I say it's just America in all its glories and lacks thereof. It's America, good, bad, and ugly, plus the fascinating, the bizarre, the truly outrageous and the incredible.
Not a book for the easily shocked or offended.
With all that said, this is a great read. All the utterly bizarre characters, unorthodox love story, and the "why isn't this a movie yet" plot add up to a book that's entertaining, engrossing, informative, and a bit of a mindscrew. . .that's why I like it so so so much.
If you take nothing else away from this book, at least you'll know what a "macro-herpetophile" is. Hee hee.(less)
There are five or six books that I would say seriously impacted my worldview and personality, and had much more effect on me in my growth and developm...moreThere are five or six books that I would say seriously impacted my worldview and personality, and had much more effect on me in my growth and development than any others of the tens of thousands of books I've read. There are five or six books out there that I would say I really found myself in, that I felt so much of the main character in myself, that I completely empathized with and saw parts of myself reflected. . .
Ender's Game was the first of those books.
I first read it in October of 1987; I was 12. Since then, I've reread it at least once every two years. This is a book that crept into my mind, wove itself into my dreams, and stayed with me since reading it. It's a powerful, powerful book, and captures the psychology of children forced to grow up too fast perfectly. It took years before I was ready to read the follow-up books (the scientific aspects of Speaker For The Dead make it a hard read for any 12-year-old whose last name isn't Hawking), but this book has remained firmly in its place of being a very very special, powerful, and personal book to me. Ender is highly valued by the adults in high life, but ostracized, mocked, and tortured by almost every other child. . .I know how that feels.
I love this book, if I haven't gotten that across yet.
I've loved JML's art for years. He draws women that I like, not skinny with minimal or outlandish curves, but women that are curvaceous, sexy, and th...moreI've loved JML's art for years. He draws women that I like, not skinny with minimal or outlandish curves, but women that are curvaceous, sexy, and the true meaning of "voluptuous" (as opposed to its current connotations): women with curves and hips and hourglass figures and. . .
Wait, what was I talking about?
Oh yeah, the book. So, I like JML's art very very much and have for many years (when I met him to have my copies of this book, I described a lady that I had a romantic interest at the time as having a body like "she was drawn by you and Frank Cho," to which JML raised his eyebrows and said only, "Damn!") I've got so much Dawn stuff (his primary character) here that, if one didn't know she's not real, one might think I've become obsessed with a tall, curvy redhead with odd tears on her eyes. Buying this book when it came out was a no-brainer for me; buying it as a gift for others was also a no-brainer (I like to share the love, after all).
If you're like me, and you like great painted art, pencilled art, or art of any style, I recommend this book. If you like hot women in poses of various styles, I DEFINITELY recommend this book. If you like both of the above, then you should have this book already!(less)
"The Realm of Terreille will be torn apart by its own foolish greed. Those who survive will serve, but few will survive."
So sai...more"The Realm of Terreille will be torn apart by its own foolish greed. Those who survive will serve, but few will survive."
So said the mad seer Tersa in the prologue in the first book of this trilogy, Daughter of the Blood, and this is when it finally happens.
Everything changes, everything gets torn apart in this book. It's heartbreaking, exciting, saddening, exhilarating, hilarious, agonizing, and breathtaking. . .it's, to use the term, a true thrill ride. It's an awesome, incredible book, and I am greatly indebted to the person that recommended the trilogy to me!
If you like dark fantasy, this is an excellent read for you; if like well-crafted stories and convincing worlds, this is an excellent read for you; if you have a pulse, this is an excellent read for you!(less)
Like the first book in the series, this is dark fantasy. This is not for kids or people that are looking for happy, unicorn-and-fairy-filled tales.
...moreLike the first book in the series, this is dark fantasy. This is not for kids or people that are looking for happy, unicorn-and-fairy-filled tales.
That said. . .
This book is a fitting follow-up to the first book, Daughter of the Blood. With the set-ups firmly in place, Bishop takes us freely into more explorations of the characters, the center of them all being Janelle, as we watch her grow up and grow towards her destiny. This book is funnier than the first one, which I appreciated, and by now I'd grown to love the heroes and hate the villainesses. Anne Bishop does a great job showing the conflicts in personalities on both sides of the central conflict, and her lush, sensual world survives on. It is a middle book, so it does seem a bit meandering at times, but that didn't detract at all from my enjoyment of what is a great book, filled with great characters.
(less)
I really like this book, but it does come with a few caveats:
I absolutely love a well-structured world, and Anne Bishop builds her world v...moreI really like this book, but it does come with a few caveats:
I absolutely love a well-structured world, and Anne Bishop builds her world very very creatively and makes it very lifelike. . .even in the bad things, like pedophiles of both sexes and the issues/problems of the powerful and the powerless. This is a very dark book, so if you're looking for unicorns-and-rainbows fantasy, this ain't it.
Once you accept that it's a dark fantasy, that people will be tortured, killed, and violated, and even the hero of the book is nicknamed The Sadist (his redemption is coming, don't worry), then you're in for a great read!
Also, it must be remembered that this book is setting up the other two books in the trilogy, so don't expect a complete resolution at the end.
If you can make it past those caveats, then this is an excellent read for you: lush, sensual, erotic at times, funny, with a beautiful complexities in the world, the characters, and the plotlines; this is a book and a series well worth getting lost in for a while!(less)
I liked this book, but le Guin's style of writing, which is very conversational, takes some getting used to. Once you get used to it, though, it's a ...moreI liked this book, but le Guin's style of writing, which is very conversational, takes some getting used to. Once you get used to it, though, it's a good read, though a bit rambling at times and not always really advancing the story. The characters are well-written, and the overall story is good; it just takes a little getting used to.
As those that know me already know, Watchmen is my absolute favourite book of all time, both of graphic novels and of regular novels. Identity Crisis...moreAs those that know me already know, Watchmen is my absolute favourite book of all time, both of graphic novels and of regular novels. Identity Crisis didn't knock that book from its lofty perch.
That said. . .
For sheer gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, heartbreaking, jaw-dropping, mind-blowing emotional impact, there is no graphic novel even close to this one. Brad Meltzer wrote an excellent exploration of a superhero's greatest weakness here, and defines them by that weakness; Rags Morales does his part with career-defining artwork that really captures the emotions, and agonies, of the characters very, very well.
Like Watchmen, you don't have to know the backstories of the characters to enjoy this book; Meltzer works the necessary exposition seamlessly into the story. (In Watchmen, though, there isn't any backstory to be known anyway.)
Sorry for such a nebulous reading date, but I bought and read the original issues as they came out, and have reread them several times since (including last night).
And one more thing. . .THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR KIDS. Don't think that just because it's a comic book with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in it that it's okay for your 7-year-old. There's a brutal rape scene (off-camera, but you know what's going on), several violent death scenes, and a lot of moral ambiguity here.
This is my favourite of the Sheridon Smythe books I've read. . .the plot is creative and holds together well, the characters are realistic and likable...moreThis is my favourite of the Sheridon Smythe books I've read. . .the plot is creative and holds together well, the characters are realistic and likable, and it combines adventure, comedy, and romance extremely well done, and the romance itself is very very sweet! A great read for romance fans, and a good read whether you like romances or not!
I loved it. The sex scenes were smoking hot, and the story of the dream-lover that fancies Natalie is so well-done! The scene in the psychiatrist's ...moreI loved it. The sex scenes were smoking hot, and the story of the dream-lover that fancies Natalie is so well-done! The scene in the psychiatrist's office is funny and very character-revealing. Her agony over taking the medication and losing her dreams of Alexander was very engrossing, especially if one considers its brevity. Natalie and Alexander both feel right, real and believable (more or less, in Alexander's case) and that's an important thing for any book, of any length.
I want to say that Miss Raines has crafted what is easily one one of the best short stories I've ever read, easily in my top 5%. I'm looking forward to reading more by her!
Great, great great book! Having long been a fan of Japanese culture, I found this to be a fascinating insight into that world and an extraordinary st...moreGreat, great great book! Having long been a fan of Japanese culture, I found this to be a fascinating insight into that world and an extraordinary story of one woman's journey through Japanese society. Great book and well-recommended.(less)
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