I saw this beautiful book on the shelf at my favorite used book store and just had to have it. It's a large book at 11 by almost 13 inches so the pictI saw this beautiful book on the shelf at my favorite used book store and just had to have it. It's a large book at 11 by almost 13 inches so the pictures are big and colorful. This makes for a great coffee table book and I'm so glad I could add it to my collection....more
Nope. Can't finish this. DNF at 17%. I'm all for literary smut, but I want my poetry to be teasing and my erotica to be sultry, not in-your-face crassNope. Can't finish this. DNF at 17%. I'm all for literary smut, but I want my poetry to be teasing and my erotica to be sultry, not in-your-face crass. I don't want to feel like a voyeur or 3rd wheel into Leav and Faudet's relationship (or whatever is going on there). Reading this was like sitting on a couch while your friends have sex next to you and occasionally you get a foot to the head. I just don't need the mental images....more
This is obviously not the kind of story where someone locks eyes with a dragon and ends up telepathically linked or some such. No, this is about scienThis is obviously not the kind of story where someone locks eyes with a dragon and ends up telepathically linked or some such. No, this is about science and study, but not in a boring way. This is still an adventure. Smugglers and murder and intrigue. Oh my!
Now in her older years, Isabella has decided to write a series of memoirs. I usually quite like memoirs. The people writing them tend to be interesting or they wouldn't have a story. Isabella has a story, and it's a good one. I just wish she wasn't so damn arrogant.
At times in the first half of the book she'd take us out of the story and talk to us, the readers, as if we're beneath her.
"You may think you see plenty of stars, friend reader, but you are wrong."
I'm not your friend when you talk to me like that. I hated the parts where she talks directly to us. They added nothing. They were the one and truly only downfall to this otherwise very engaging tale.
I need to go start the second book because, well, dragons!...more
I think this is an amazing book. I read it when I was an early teen and it's stayed with me all these years. I never forgot the cover or the confusionI think this is an amazing book. I read it when I was an early teen and it's stayed with me all these years. I never forgot the cover or the confusion, terror, and dread I felt while being riveted. If you feel the first half of this book is a little difficult to get through just keep reading. You will be rewarded.
Since this story is mostly told in diary style from the perspective of the main character there are things we just won't know because she doesn't know or doesn't bother to explain. Mainly why the war happened in the first place. Still, Ann is able to care for herself quite well on her family's farm after luckily surviving due to her location. Even with all her knowledge of gardening, preserving, and farming she is still a 16 year old who is naive about people and the world.
Honestly, I do not understand the male character or his motivation. I can't wrap my head around his choices. The only explanation is he's mentally unstable. He must have cracked somewhere along the way in life. Poor Ann doesn't have the life experiences to listen to her instincts when it comes to a man.
There is a definite religious tone throughout the novel. A pervasive correlation is the story of Adam and Eve. One man, one woman, and an apple tree. To someone who isn't religious it isn't overwhelming or preachy....more
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