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Fool For Love, by Harper Bliss ***

28/3/2016

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Genre: LGBTQI, F/F, Romance, Erotica

This was my first foray into the world of LGBTQI and F/F romance and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. It portrayed the beginnings of lesbian relationships and the intimacy that can be experienced between two women.

The writing style was easy to follow and allowed me to fully experience the emotions and feelings of the protagonists involved within the narrative.

There were a few intimate scenes within the novella that were written tastefully and done with elegance, this portrayed the sensitivity and gentleness of Love.

Within the narrative Bliss cleverly delves into the affect that past relationships have on the development and creation of future ones. This was done by the writer by not focusing on the ending of relationships, but rather exploring the varying psychological impact this has had on the main protagonists during the creation of future relationships and sexual exploits.

The reason for my 3 star-rating is due in part to my overall experience of this piece of literature. For me, personally, the narrative was predictable and I could foresee the direction the story was taking. When reading I normally prefer a narrative with plenty of twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat. However, I do suppose this is all part of the 'novella' format, where there is not much room to elaborate and create the 'twists and turns'.

Overall, I did enjoy it, and I do see myself reading the further 3 novella's within the 'High Rise' series. Stay tuned for feedback on further stories within this collection...

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To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee *****

22/3/2016

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Genre: ​​Historical, Cultural, Classic, Crime Fiction.

This is the second time that I have read To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee - and I must say that I enjoyed it just as much the second time around as I did on the first occasion.

What Lee does very intricately here is weave a tale of such a heinous crime but through the innocent eyes of a child. For instance, there are frequent examples of the child's naivety when confronted with dangerous and more 'adult' situations, with the general assumption made by the older characters that she is 'too young to understand'.

Reading this I began to feel that I, myself, was part of Maycomb County and that I was a member of their society, an onlooker if you will on the events unfolding across the narrative. It was extremely engaging, and I must admit I was on the edge of my seat on a couple of occasions.

Dialogue is essential to bringing about a cultural awareness and bringing the reader with you along the narrative journey. Here, Lee uses this to great effect throughout the novel, where I was unintentionally mimicking the Southern American accent along with the characters; thus bringing forth a familiarity with each of them.

​I am not surprised that this has been deemed a 'classic piece of literary fiction' by many avid readers. It has undoubtedly provided not only satisfaction, but also a wider sense of education of early 1900's America - across the southern states. It transfixed me so much, which is the reason for my 5 star-rating, and also the reason why this book is most certainly within my top-10 reads of all time.

The only thing I can add here is that I am very intrigued to see Lee's subsequent sequel to this amazing book - Go Set a Watchman. #WatchThisSpace

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In the Kingdom's Name, by Amy Jarecki ****

16/3/2016

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Genre: Historical, Romance, Sci-Fi

I really liked this book, overall I felt that it gripped me and brought me into the story. It was extremely detailed and showed me that the author had most certainly done their research in order to capture every small piece of detail, not only of William Wallace and his life, but also of the era and the people involved within the story - including the commoners; which is rare.

This is the second book in the Guardian of Scotland series, however, I read this book first, which actually did not matter, as I was still able to picture the characters and visualize the settings. You would not be lost if you did not read the first one before this one, although, it may provide more context surrounding small parts of the narrative.

I would say that this book is an easy read, which helped me immerse myself within the narrative and let my imagination place me center stage, with the best view to see the narrative unfold. A sign of a good book and author is the ability to make the readers emote along with the characters within the narrative and Amy Jarecki most certainly achieves this in some detail.

It does follow the conventions of the 'romance' genre very well by exploring the love interest between a couple and shows their journey and road-blocks they have to overcome in their quest to be together; even when separated by 700 years.

​The narrative within this book tackles sci-fi by exploring the element of 'time-travel'. I thought this was extremely clever, bringing the modern day together with the medieval era. Jarecki cleverly tackles the paradox of not being able to do anything that may alter the course of history and shows the struggle that the main character has about knowing 'what is yet to come'.

My very minor critique of this book, which led me to giving it a 4 out of 5 star-rating (and if I could have, I would still have given this a 4 and half star-rating), is that although the author has very clearly described the character of William Wallace in immense detail I still pictured Mel Gibson as this character, which was annoying as I would have really loved to have created my own image of him. But again this is just my personal image that was created - other readers may visualize him differently.

I am most certainly looking forward to what Jarecki releases in the future and will definitely be trying some of her other works.

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    What is this blog about?

    This blog is for me to post my thoughts and opinions of books that I have read. Providing you with my honest judgement and insight into it's narrative structure, technical devices, context it has been written in and my own personal enjoyment and feelings regarding the piece.

    The books are also rated on a system of 1 to 5 stars - signified with the use of an asterisk.

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