demon-types | Reading Backwards book reviews

The Merry Gentry Series, books 6-8 By Laurell K Hamiltom Read: April 2010 Rating: Phwoar I tried really hard not to let them all run together, but they did. Rather than try to pull the last three books apart, I’m just going to shove ‘em in one post and mention what lasting impressions I have. A Lick of Frost I was [...] Full Story	Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell By Susanna Clarke Read: December 2009 Rating: Engrossing For the record, I am including this in the 2009 50Book list, because I read the vast majority of it during December. So there. Mein gott, this has been sitting on my shelf since FOREVER. And it is one daunting brick of a book, too. Over 1000 [...] Full Story	Racing the Dark Reviewed for the Feminist Review By Alaya Dawn Johnson Bolden Racing the Dark is unique among fantasy books. The world draws upon Pacific Island and East Asian cultures to create a rich blend very different from fantasy canon—an island nation with an animist religion centering on sacrifice and binding. Though a young adult novel, Johnson [...] Full Story
Death Mill Mansion By Will Hartzell-Baird Read: September 2009 Rating: Clever Do you see that adorable little pyramid thing dusting the title on the book cover? You see that? That’s the most adorable killer robot you will ever see. Its name is XR-36, but it secretly thinks of itself as Octavius. It can’t announce this because XR-36 is [...] Full Story	Impossible By Nancy Werlin Read: June 2009 Rating: Excellent There must have been some great turnover in the AuthorSphere. Newer YA writers–ie., books published after I stopped reading them (around age… 13?)–are clearly onto something. I mean, really, really onto something. It’s not just The Disreputable History. It’s How I Live Now and Libba Bray and [...] Full Story	Black Dagger Brotherhood By J.R. Ward Read: April-May 2009 Rating: Cool My mom got me hooked on these. She bought the whole Black Dagger Brotherhood series (1-6) and she immersed herself in them for about a week. Then she passed them on to me. Good, solid books. Not perfect, but few things are. As a whole, the series [...] Full Story
The Thrall’s Tale by Judith Lindbergh Read: December 2008 Rating: Woah I mean, seriously, woah. I’m still trying to sort out what I really think about this. I mean, it was good. It was really, really good. I can totally appreciate this as a writer, and an experienced reader. I’m not sure if that means its a good [...] Full Story	The Pillars of the World By Anne Bishop Read: September 2008 Rating: Nifty I don’t know why the Tir Alainn books have sat unread for so long. I snapped the first one up because I love Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels books. Maybe I could sense that the Tir Alainn books aren’t up to the same standard. Still, I’m enjoying them. [...] Full Story	The Immortally Sexy Series 1-4 by Stephanie Rowe Read: 2007/2008 Rating: Mostly fab I didn’t realize I hadn’t blogged about any of these! They’re so much fun! I found the first one at the grocery store, and by the time I finally read it I was able to hop online and buy the next 3. Yes, they’re that good. I [...] Full Story
The Subtle Knife By Philip Pullman Read: August 2008 Rating: Disappointing Gentle readers, it is a sad day for my bookshelf. I am usually very good about finishing the books I pick up, I hate stopping partway, unless they’re really trash. Even when something becomes mediocre, I see it through, if only to see how bad it gets. [...] Full Story	The Golden Compass(es) By Philip Pullman Read: August 2008 Rating: Intense I totally missed the boat on this one. It’s a real shame, because I think I would have quite liked it at the time it was published, and I was just ten years old. At 22, I’m much more critical of some things, and less easy to [...] Full Story	Divine by… Mistake, Choice, and Blood By P.C. Cast Read: First half of 2008. Rating: Um? The Smart Bitches have raved about two of PC Cast’s books so I figured she was a pretty safe bet. And it was really just… so-so. Entertaining, but not madly so. I don’t know what was wrong, per se, they just weren’t as good as [...] Full Story
Angel Moxie By Dan Hess Books at Lulu.com WWW: http://www.venisproductions.com/angelmoxie/ Read: February 2007 Rating: Qute Genre: Magical Girl, Parody, Humor Format: Four panels Style: Grayscale Published: In 3 volumes, or a compilation (link above) If you always thought Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura were too saccharine, look no further. AM is not your typical Magical Girl comic. [...] Full Story	Demonology 101 By Faith Erin Hicks URL: http://faith.rydia.net Read: December ’06-January ’07 Rating: Spellbinding. Genre: Supernatural, Supreme Good vs. Supreme Evil. Format: Full page. Style: Black, white, and watercolor grays for shading. Published: Not yet, but I would buy it ASAP. (Hear that, Faith!?) Bonus: It’s COMPLETE!!! No waiting! Wait–it’s over?! It took me a while to [...] Full Story	With a Tangled Skein By Piers Anthony Rating: Frabjous Read: approx. 1998 (age 12), reread August 2005. I first read the Incarnations of Immortality when I was about 12, and I remember enough to know that I didn’t comprehend nearly as much as I will now, some 7 years later. (Yosh, has it really been that long?) I’ve reread [...] Full Story
Howl’s Moving Castle By Diana Wynne Jones Rating: Fantastic! Read: June 2005 I’m a fan of Studio Ghibli, famous for the films Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Their latest creation is an adaption of Howl’s Moving Castle. I got a copy at the library and now I’m even MORE psyched to go see the movie. Full Story