Kaly read and liked Fiona's review of Gatty's Tale:

"I loved Gatty from the Arthur trilogy and so having a whole adventure all to herself made my reading day.

Gatty was introduced as a young girl who worked hard on the land of the Caldicot's. She and Arthur were peculiar friends - the lord'...more I loved Gatty from the Arthur trilogy and so having a whole adventure all to herself made my reading day.

Gatty was introduced as a young girl who worked hard on the land of the Caldicot's. She and Arthur were peculiar friends - the lord's son and a peasant wasn't really what you would call a conventional friendship.

Arthur went off to the Crusades, leaving Gatty alone. When her father dies she is left alone. Lord Caldicot feels sorry for her and perhaps affected by his son's friendship with her, arranges for her to accompany a lady on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem. Gatty's Tale tells of her long journey to the Birth place of Jesus Christ. It isn't just a physical journey of course, but a spiritual and mental journey.

Kevin Crossley-Holland is first and foremost a fantastic author and I think must have done a good amount of research because he takes you back in time so seamlessly you barely notice it. You can read as many history text books as you want, but the best way to really get a "feel" of history I think, is to read a fictional account.

Strong characters make up this book. Gatty in particular of course. I loved how she grew up in this book - from girl to young woman. I loved the love story between her and Arthur. This book completed the trilogy in the nicest way possible.

I love authors who can create not just a world, but characters whom you can touch and know. Really "know" as if they are your friends. Sometimes it is hard to believe they aren't real.(less) "

Kaly read and liked Stephanie's review of The Sweet Far Thing (Gemma Doyle, #3):

"I am utterly distraught by this book. My first hour free of it's torture I was a ball of fury. Nothing made sense, the writing was crappy, and I had so many questions. My poor husband didn't want to come near me and I didn't want to talk to anyone...more I am utterly distraught by this book. My first hour free of it's torture I was a ball of fury. Nothing made sense, the writing was crappy, and I had so many questions. My poor husband didn't want to come near me and I didn't want to talk to anyone.

I had such high hopes for this book. Kartik and Gemma would finally find a way to be together, the magic of the realms would be figured out and dealt with, and Felicity and Ann would finally become real friends of Gemma's or else be rid of. I definitely expected a little bir more maturity to be given out by those girls, at least by Gemma, because generally when a person is given a large amount of responsibility, despite their age, and consciously decides that they need to live up to it, they don't act like retarded and petty 12 year olds.

Here are just a few of my troubles...

Why the crap does Kartik turn into a tree? This doesn't make any sense. I understand the sacrifice that he is making, but there is no sign that the magic can't be dealt with in another way until the very point where Libba Bray turns him into a tree. It is retarded. There is no sense in this, unless her goal was to piss people off.

Why are Pippa and Felicity lesbian lovers? I don't get this at all. Some people have mentioned in their reviews that they saw signs of this coming. Whatever signs they saw seemed like normal female friendship to me, especially for Victorian period writing. Besides the fact I think that it was just silly, the kiss was random and out of some teenage boys lesbian lovers fantasy. DUMB! I however, was satisfied when Felicity chose the good side, despite her love for Pippa, who has always irritated me.

The writing was just bad. For someone who has published 2 books already, the writing should have been much better. The plot should have been thought out. The dialogue should have been less George Lucas inspired (by this I am referring to his ability to make very good actors sound like dunces).

I am very frustrated by how poorly the magic of the realms was understood. Obviously Circe was evil, but how did she turn out to be so much better than the the people who were supposed to be good and why did she make so much more sense? Bray turns the evil person back to good - to a degree - and than she turns Kartik into a tree? Whatever!

My final annoyance for this review is that of Bray's obsession with womens rights. Holy crap, she went a bit overboard don't you think? I thought to myself at one point that maybe it was just me and that I was a little sensitive to people and their soap boxes... until at the very end Gemma's last request for the girls to be taught how to think for themselves and blah-blah-blah. Thinking for yourself is not at all a bad idea, but honestly. Themes like that are supposed to be thought provoking, not obnoxiously present.

There are so many, many things that I find very wrong with this book. It was a very huge disappointment. I expected so much more than what I was given here.

There were enough good things that I finished the book, but I definitely would not recommend it to anyone.(less) "