spells and curses | Reading Backwards book reviews

The Linnet By Elizabeth English (aka Elizabeth Minogue) Read: June 2010 Rating: Sigh. I have been waiting to read this book since I read The Prince (Jan ’06). I loved that so much that I immediately set my sights on the only other book under this name. Alas, The Linnet does not live up to The Prince’s [...] Full Story	Graylight The field of comics, also sometimes known as graphic novels, is dominated by male creators and readers. However, there’s been increasing push in the last few decades by women to enter the field and make their mark. Though comics drawn by women are gaining popularity, most are classified as “indie,” distributed by small publishers that may not be able to advertise or place volumes in prominent bookstores. Naomi Nowak’s most recent graphic novel, Graylight, is designated indie, though it deserves to be appreciated by a wider audience. Full Story	Ella Enchanted By Gail Carson Levine Read: Repeatedly since 1997. Most recently, April 2010 Rating: J’adore Some books are like old friends. It doesn’t matter where you left off, or how long it’s been, you fall right back into friendship as soon as you meet up. Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books. I can still [...] Full Story
Rapunzel: The One With The Hair By Wendy Mass Read: April 2010 Rating: Sweet This is a really cute book, best for younger readers. Disney’s new Rapunzel movie, Tangled, is coming out in a year or so, making this a timely choice. It’s told in diary form, which allows the kids to speak like kids. Rapunzel has grown up with her [...] Full Story	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	Until Forever By Johanna Lindsey Read: Feb 2010 Rating: Convoluted There’s a LOT of fun to poke at this thing. Before I have fun, let me say that it wasn’t awful. It wasn’t really good, either. BOOK-IN-A-MINUTE, Git-style (Yes, that means spoiler) Roseleen: I am a history professor with a penchant for old weapons. Look at this [...] Full Story
Movie vs. Book: Ella Enchanted Once upon a time, I discovered a wonderful, wonderful book. Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted is immerses you in Ella’s world, giving you a best friend as well as an adventure. Then Hollywood got their hands on it. And THEY RAPED IT. Below is an off-the-cuff rant I wrote in 2004, before the movie was [...] Full Story	The Skull of the World and The Fathomless Caves By Kate Forsyth Read: ~2002, November 2009 Rating: Gripping Hoo-! I was up MUCH later than intended last night, polishing off the last of book 6, which I read right on the heels of #5. Good reading, there. When I say gripping, I mean it. The last third especially… The Skull of the World follows [...] Full Story	The Forbidden Land By Kate Forsyth Read: Sept-Oct 2009 Rating: Nostalgic Number four, in what was meant to be a trilogy. I had always liked this one because it stars one of my favorite characters: Finn. Fionnghal was born a princess, heir to the MacRurach clan, but was kidnapped by Maya’s regime to use as a tool. The [...] 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	The Cursed Towers By Kate Forsyth Read: July 2009 Rating: Comfortable So, Lachlan and Iseult have won their throne! But now the land is covered in Bright Soldiers and the coasts are being raided by Fairgean. Maya the Ensorcellor is at large, and her followers are planning an insurrection. The Righ goes to war. There’s isn’t really a [...] Full Story	The Pool of Two Moons By Kate Forsyth Read: Way Back When, July 2009 Rating: Bonny Book Two in the Witches of Eileannan is a big ‘un. It covers TWO mega-battles/wars, and a giantass cast of characters. I love it. And plenty of men in kilts. Not much fetishizing of the kilts, but plenty of kilts. And women kilting their [...] Full Story
Witches of Eileannan By Kate Forsyth Read: Early 2000s?, June 2009 Rating: Love I owe one of my good friends a debt of thanks for turning me onto these. At the time it was just the first two on the shelf and we all thought it would be a trilogy. Imagine our delight when it turned into SIX [...] Full Story	Untamed By Elizabeth Lowell Read: June 2009 Rating: Cool? Yeah, so, I’ve talked about how dangerous library book sales are, right? Right. I found me some romances. Proper swooning cover romances. I mean, check this inner cover out. Pink satin sheets, hair spread wantonly across pillows, limbs tangled and toes curling. Oh yeah, and he’s got [...] 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
Powers of Detection Edited by Dana Stabenow Read: Sept/Oct 2008 (review finalized May 2009) Rating: Abysmal It was a noble goal. Dana Stabenow writes sci fi/fantasy, and when someone suggested she try her hand at a mystery competition she laughed. But she said she’d try and it turned into a story. It was too long for the competition [...] Full Story	Helen of Troy By Margaret George Read: May 2009, approx. 240 pages. Rating: Sigh. I get very disappointed when books I want to be good… aren’t. It comes particularly hard on the heels of a riveting series, like the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And I just gave up on The Mermaid Chair, so it’s doubly depressing to give up [...] 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
Mistress of the Art of Death By Ariana Franklin Read: Feb 2009 Rating: AWESOME. I go down on bended knee to my friend V for recommending this. The cover and its text make this sound like a pretty dark murder mystery that happens to be set in medieval Europe. That was pretty cool, but I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so [...] Full Story	Lioness Rampant By Tamora Pierce Read: First time in 6th grade? Multiple re-readings thereafter. January 2009. Rating: Immortal. I love Alanna. I love, love, love, love, LOVE her. I think I was about 12… possibly 10 or 11… when I found In The Hand of the Goddess at the public library. It was exactly what I had [...] 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
Sirena By Donna Jo Napoli Read: 1998, October 2008 Rating: Provocative I still remember seeing Sirena on display at our school library, when it first came out. I was perhaps in 6th grade. It was on a special shelf, for the library’s special reader program–those readers got first pick of the new titles and were supposed [...] Full Story	Shadows & Light, House of Gaian By Anne Bishop Read: September 2008 Rating: FAB. You know the kind of book that you read in hours and days instead of weeks, the kind of book that makes you want to cry as you reach the end because it’s just so good? That’s the latter 2/3 of the Tir Alainn books. The first, [...] 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	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	How to Abduct a Highland Lord By Karen Hawkins Read: April 2007 Rating: Fun Mmkay, I am a sucker for men in kilts. So much so that I’m adding a new category to the Fun Shtuff. Why? Cuz men in kilts are Hawtt. Ahem. I grabbed this and ran–I just had a good feeling about it. And I was so right. [...] Full Story