Friday, July 29, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (12) + Follow Friday

It's finally the weekend, which means time for another hop! Hosted by the lovely Crazy-For-Books.

Book Blogger Hop

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and

readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!

This week's question:

Highlight one book you received this week (for review, from the library, from the store, etc.) that you can't wait to dig into!

Yesterday I made what was probably my last trip to Border's *sniffle* and bought Anna Godbersen's Bright Young Things. I have been waiting to get my hands on this book forever! I was a huge fan of her Luxe series, and now with a whole new group of girls set in the 1920's, I couldn't pass it up!

Here's the synopsis:

The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the bright young things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.

Across the cast lawns of Long Island and in the glittering metropolis of New York City, three beautiful girls find love, intrigue, and adventure: Astrid Donal is a flapper who seems to have it all... but her perfect veneer hides a score of secrets. Cordelia Grey searches for the father she's never known--and discovers his world is more dangerous then she ever imagined. All Letty Larkspur wants to see is her name in lights, but just how far will she go to be a star?




Q: Let's step away from books for a second and get personal. What t-shirt slogan best describes you?

I think the most appropriate t-shirt logo for me would be "Will Read for Food." Simple, easy to remember.

-To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
-(Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
-(Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - The Book Addicted Girl & The Little Book Blog
-Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
-Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
-Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
-If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
-If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Friday!



Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays (7)

Happy Tuesday everyone! This week's teasers come from Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter, a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My Teasers:

"It was foolish to talk of hating him--foolish and wasteful. What had happened had happened, like anything else might happen, like a bit of paper giving you a new home when you had none finding its way into your hand, like a company of the ugliest, worst-tempered plants you'd ever seen opening their flowers and becoming rose-bushes, the most beautiful, lovable plants you've ever seen." (84)

--Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley



Monday, July 25, 2011

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (19)

Greetings everyone, hope you are all doing well! Happy Monday. Here's to a great week filled with books!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey in which we bloggers share what we have read in the past week, and what we're currently tearing through this week.

Last Week I Read

Wildwing by Emily Whitman (Check out my review here!)

Currently I'm Reading

Spindle's End by Robin McKinley



Saturday, July 23, 2011

Wildwing by Emily Whitman

GENRE

YA Historical Fiction / Fantasy (359 pgs.)


SYNOPSIS

When Addy is swept back in time, she couldn't be happier to leave her miserable life behind. Now she's mistaken for Lady Mathilda, the pampered ward of the king. If Addy can play her part, she'll have glorious gowns, jewels, and something she's always longed for--the respect and admiration of others. But then she meets Will, the falconer's son with sky blue eyes, who unsettles all her plans.

From shipwrecks to castle dungeons, from betrothals to hidden conspiracies, Addy finds herself in a world where she's not the only one with a dangerous secret. When she discovers the truth, Addy must take matters into her own hands. The stakes? Her chance at true love, and the life she's meant to live.


MY REVIEW

I picked this book up at my local bookstore because it sounded fairly interesting. I've always enjoyed books that include time travel, because I love to see how characters get along in such a completely different world than the ones they were living in.

The only problem I have with time traveling books is that usually for the characters, some out-of-the-blue plot twist happens and they magically fit right into someone's vacated place. It just never seems real enough. Unfortunately, this book was no exception.

When Addy is transported back in time, she sees a falcon, which leads her to a beach on which the remnants of a shipwreck are washed up. Turns out, that ship was carrying the real Lady Mathilda to the castle of Sir Hugh. So when riders show up to survey the damage, they see Addy and assume she is Lady Mathilda, the only survivor of the wreck. I just found this really unbelievable. I have yet to discover a good time traveling story in which the character really has to think and figure out a way to "jump in on the action," as it were.

Actually, the whole story continued in that fashion. The plot was just too unbelievable. It was all really too good to be true. Everything ends up happening right for Addy, even when it doesn't seem like it's going to, it does.

The characters really weren't anything special, just stock characters refashioned in a new way. Will's love for Addy seemed to be a bit unbelievable (again) to me, just because he falls so in love with Addy from the start and it's never made clear what his feelings are based off of.

Historical accuracy wasn't anything to spectacular either. It was just the basics. Nothing to be in awe over. Although I will give credit to Emily Whitman for doing some good research on hawking. That element of the book was well researched.

The prose was simple and pretty unornamented. Seriously, I finished this book in two days.

If I could sum up this book in one word, it would be charming. It was a charming story. The plot was okay, the characters were okay, and the historical accuracy was okay. Nothing really special stood out to me here. Definitely just a run-of-the-mill YA Historical Fiction novel. A good read if you've got a couple of lazy days.


MY RATING

3***




Friday, July 22, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (11) + Follow Friday

It's finally the weekend, which means time for another hop! Hosted by the lovely Crazy-For-Books.

Book Blogger Hop

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!

This week's question:

What is the ONE GENRE you wish you could get into, but just can't?

The one genre that I really have never been able to get into (but really wish I could) is non-fiction. I love history and historical fiction to death. But I find that when reading biographies of certain historical figures, I just can't finish the darn book. I think it's because I'm such a hopeless romantic. That, and the art-less prose is just really hard for me to get through.




Q: Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

If I could sit down with Lisa Ann Sandell, Hellen Hollick, and L.A. Meyer, my life would pretty much be complete. If I didn't have to stop at three, I'd also invite Libba Bray and Lisa Klein along.

-To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
-(Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
-(Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - We Fancy Books & Unrequited Desire
-Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
-Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
-Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
-If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
-If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Friday!



Thursday, July 21, 2011

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

GENRE

Adult Historical Fiction (364 pgs.)


SYNOPSIS

Mary Sutter is a brilliant young midwife who dreams of becoming a surgeon. Determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine--and eager to run away from recent heartbreak--Mary travels to Washington, D.C., to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Under the guidance of two surgeons, who both fall unwittingly in love with her, and resisting her mother's pleas to return home to help with the difficult birth of her twin sister's baby, Mary pursues her medical career against all odds.


MY REVIEW

This novel happened to catch my eye for two reasons. One, it was about a nurse, which I aspire to be someday. Two, it was about the Civil War, which I thought was very appropriate considering this past April was the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.

I think this is just one of those books you really have to read to understand just how powerful and beautiful this story truly is. I almost can't put it in words, but I'll do my best.

Mary Sutter just might be one of my favorite literary heroines I've read so far. Her spirit is literally unbreakable. The whole world she lives in is a world full of no's for women, and yet, she pursues her passion for nursing, at all costs. She patiently works her way up from the lowest of lows, nothing more than a scullery maid in a hospital, to one day, becoming a practicing doctor, the first graduate of Elizabeth Blackwell's medical college for women. She possesses such a bright, burning flame of passion that nothing can ever extinguish, not even the pure gore and horror of the Civil War. Her catchphrase? "I want to be a surgeon."

The characters in this novel are extremely well written, each with a very personal contribution to the story. Each character has something unique about them from their past, whether it be a shared bereavement or lost loves, that brings them all together in such a special way. It was so easy to become attached to each of the characters, and love them all in a different way.

The prose of this novel was sweeping and vast, encompassing all aspects of the War. We see it from the frontlines, from the hospitals, from the homefront, and even from the White House itself. I applaud Robin Oliveira for going to such a length as to really make the Civil War and its people come back to life again.

As for historical accuracy, it was flawless. Everything was meticulously researched, from the actual battles to the primitive, undeveloped medicine of the Civil War. This novel drags you through the streets of old Washington, D.C. and puts you right next to the surgeons as they perform countless procedures in the hospitals. I also particularly enjoyed the fact that Robin Oliveira included some famous figures of that era, such as Abraham Lincoln and Dorothea Dix, and breathed new live into these often worn-out historical characters.

But most importantly, this is a love story. A subtle, but powerful love that grows to defy the world of the Civil War. It's passionate, but in a different way... a passion to continue living and thriving a midst the overwhelming death that surrounds it.

This novel can only be described one way: epic. It is truly a Civil War epic. This century's Gone With the Wind. A beautiful, powerful story that I am so glad I had the privilege to read.


MY RATING

5*****






Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Book Haul: My Local Library

Hold the phones! Stop the presses! This just in... I actually went to the library!

I don't even know what's kept me away so long. I don't know why I've been so reluctant to borrow books. I guess it's the thought that I have to give them back, even if I love them to death. And also the thought that the selection isn't super fantastic. Even with this in mind, I borrowed 3 (yes 3!) books from my library today, and I felt so proud!

Anyways, here's a peek at the books I borrowed. Enjoy!

Spindle's End by Robin McKinley (YA Fairytale Retelling)

All the creatures of the forest and field and riverbank knew the infant was special. She was the princess, spirited away from the evil fairy Pernicia on her name-day. But the curse was cast: Rosie was fated to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a poisoned sleep-a slumber from which no one would be able to rouse her.



Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley (YA Fairytale Retelling)

"It is the heart of this place, and it is dying," says the Beast. And it is true; the center of the Beast's palace, the glittering glasshouse that brings Beauty both comfort and delight in her strange new environment, is filled with leafless brown rosebushes. But deep within this enchanted world, new life, at once subtle and strong, is about to awaken. Twenty years ago Robin McKinley enthralled readers with the power of Beauty. Now this extraordinarily gifted novelist retells the story of Beauty and the Beast again—but in a totally new way, with fresh perspective, ingenuity, and mature insight. In Rose Daughter she has written her finest and most deeply felt work, a compelling, richly imagined, and haunting exploration of the transformative power of love.


Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton (Adult Historical Fiction)

The Caribbean, 1665. Port Royal, Jamaica is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses. For Captain Charles Hunter, there’s a living to be made, and gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking.
Word in port is that the galleon El Trinidad is awaiting repairs in a nearby, heavily fortified, harbor. Hunter assembles a crew of ruffians to infiltrate the enemy island and commandeer El Trinidad, along with its fortune in gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloodiest tales of island legend and Hunter will lose more than one man before he even sets foot on foreign shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry stand between him and the treasure . . .



Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays (6)

Happy Tuesday everyone! This weeks teasers come from Robin Oliveira's Civil War epic, My Name is Mary Sutter.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

"By the thousands, the wounded lay on the ground and thought, This thirst is not thirst. This pain is not pain. This world is not being rent in two.
That howling is only a whisper. That screech is just a murmur. That explosion is nothing but a sigh. That musket fire is but a rustle.
I am not here. We are not here. Armies are not here. The country is not depending on this moment.
Battles are conversations. An exchange. A dialogue.
None of this is true." (332)

--My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira.



Friday, July 15, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (10) + Follow Friday

It's finally the weekend, which means time for another hop! Hosted by the lovely Crazy-For-Books.

Book Blogger Hop

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!

This week's question comes from Veronica at Read Books, Have Fun:

How/Where do you get your books? Do you buy them or go to the library? Is there a certain website you use like paperbackswap?

I actually buy almost all of my books. I've never really used the library because I just can't bear having to give back a book, especially a really good one. I have, however, recently been trying to stick with mainly paperbacks when I purchase, because hardcovers are just so darn expensive. My go-to bookstores are Borders and Barnes & Noble. I've never actually heard of paperbackswap, so I'll have to check that out!




-To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
-(Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
-(Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://angelasanxiouslife.blogspot.com/
-Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
-Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
-Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
-If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
-If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Friday!



Friday is for Fairytales (5)

Friday is for Fairytales is a meme hosted by Irena at This Miss Loves to Read. Every Friday, you can choose a fairytale you love, or simply find interesting or haunting, and review it or simply say why you like it so much, or why it has captured your attention. Instead of a fairytale, you can choose a favourite fairytale character and describe him/her and tell us why you like them, or you can simply share an experience connected to a fairytale. Fairytales can be old and modern, written by a known author or anonymous, written down or passed on orally, short or in novel form (like re-writings of fairytales), international or typical for your country alone. In this case, present your country’s fairytale and we can all become acquainted with a new fairytale. So, make a post every Friday that is connected to the world of fairytales, be it a review, a character description or your own fairytale experience. Let’s celebrate fairytales and share our love for them.

MY POST IS ABOUT: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

This has to be one of the most out-there fairytales in existence. As a child, I enjoyed this fairytale for its wild sense of imagination and pure, untamed craziness. Whenever I watched the Disney movie (which was quite often), I lost myself in the world that is Wonderland.

As I became older, and started to realize just how insane the story of Alice in Wonderland is, I always wondered, What kind of drug was Lewis Carrol on when he wrote this? Little did I know that Lewis Carrol was actually a long-time sufferer of seizures. So I can only imagine what poor Lewis Carrol saw as he was tortured with seizures, constantly jumping in and out of consciousness.

What I love about this fairytale is the theme of escapism... that there is a whole other world waiting for you; you just have to imagine it. If this world is weighing down on your shoulders, why not imagine a new one? Why not dream your cares away?

I think as we grow older, we lose a lot of our imagination. This fairytale is just a reminder that no matter how old you are, you can still dream up a crazy world like Wonderland. No matter how old your are, you can still escape to your favorite place and just--for once--have some fun.



Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays (5)

Happy Tuesday everyone! This weeks teasers come from Robin Oliveira's Civil War epic, My Name is Mary Sutter.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

"The music raced and the men took turns twirling Mary in circles until her heart raced and she held her gloved hand to her chest, her beautiful neck rising from her white, square collared dress." (107)

"Lincoln's head swam with still more ideas, so many that he longed for a pen and paper, but he had no real idea what he was doing. He had relied, he thought now, too heavily on the men who were supposed to know how to conduct wars." (160)

--My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira



Monday, July 11, 2011

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (18) + Another Note

Greetings everyone!! Hope the start of your week has been happy and productive. I just wanted to drop a quick note and let you all know that thanks to Google Chrome, blogger is working for me again! So if you've been shy to comment fearing you would receive no reply, fear not! I am able to comment without complaint again. Have a wonderful, book-filled week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey in which we bloggers share what we have read in the past week, and what we're currently tearing through this week.

Last Week I Read

Gawain & Lady Green by Anne Eliot Crompton (Check out my review here!)

Currently I'm Reading

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira



Sunday, July 10, 2011

Gawain & Lady Green by Ann Eliot Crompton

GENRE

YA Fantasy / Arthurian Legend / Fairytale Retelling (214 pgs.)


SYNOPSIS

Gwyneth wasn't supposed to fall in love with Gawain. Not like this. Gawain was the May King--a sacrifice offered to the Goddess for a bountiful harvest in return. Gwyneth knows this. His fate has been decided by powers beyond her control. But the warmth of his touch and the taste of his lips have blurred the lines of what she knows to be true. Now Gwyneth is willing to risk everything to keep Gawain alive, even if it means losing him forever...


MY REVIEW

I was excited when I first found this read in my local Border's. Arthurian legend? Check. Fairytale retelling? Check. Two of my favorite genres all bundled up in to one package? Yes please.

I really should have said no thanks.

This book was far from good. Even to say it was just okay is a stretch. Here's why.

The dialogue throughout the novel was clipped and devoid of meaning. After reading for a while, the character's dialogue actually became annoying to me. It had no real flow, no real meaning; it was just kind of there, you know? It just didn't go anywhere.

The characters were really poorly written. At the end of the novel, I felt myself not caring for a single one of the characters. Crompton didn't succeed in getting my sympathy for the plight of her raggamuffin characters. Neither Gawain nor Lady Green captured my imagination or my heart. There was absolutely no backstory, and without seeing where these characters had been, I couldn't possibly imagine where they could be going.

The plot skipped around everywhere! I was so confused reading this book. It wasn't until the end of the book that I really got a small sense of what was going on, and even then, I didn't care. It wasn't important to me. The whole opening of the book in media res really did not work at all.

Setting was nondescript. Definitely nothing special in that department either.

There was just no feeling in this novel. It was just an empty shell. Nothing captured my attention, or made me want to keep reading.

All in all, not a good read. In the back of the book, there was an "Coming Soon" add for another book by Crompton called Percival's Angel. I just cringed at the thought of having to read another butchering of Arthurian legend again.


MY RATING

1.5*/*





Friday, July 8, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (9)

It's finally the weekend, which means time for another hop! Hosted by the lovely Crazy-For-Books.

Book Blogger Hop


In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!


This week’s question isn’t a question at all! I thought I would do things a little differently this week and give all of you a chance to promote a giveaway (or two!) from the blogosphere.


You have to find another blogger who is having a giveaway and promote their giveaway for them! If possible, promote a giveaway from a blogger doing the Hop (hey, you are visiting other blogs anyway, right?). Have fun with this one! It’s not an easy task this week!


Huzzah!! I found a giveaway!! This one is from Parajunkee's View, one of my many visited blogs. Check it out here !



Sunday, July 3, 2011

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers

GENRE

Historical Fiction / Fantasy / Sci-Fi (322 pgs.)


SYNOPSIS

Aboard the Vociferous Carmichael pupeteer John Chandagnac is sailing towards Jamaica to claim his stolen birthright from an unscrupulous uncle when the vessel is captured... by pirates! Offered a choice by Captain Phil Davies to join their seafaring band or die, Chandagnac assumes the name John Shandy and a new life as a brigand. But more than swash-buckling sea battles and fabulous plunder await the novice buccanneer on the roiling Caribbean waters--for treachery and powerful vodun sorcery are coins of the realm in this dark new world. And for the love of the beautiful, magically imperiled Beth Hurwood, Shandy will set sail on even stranger tides, following the savage, ghost-infested pirate king Blackbeard and a motley crew of the living and the dead to the cursed nightmare banks on the fabled Fountain of Youth.


MY REVIEW

When I found out that the newest installment of Pirates of the Caribbean had been inspired by a book, let's just say I was down at my local Border's before you could say "Bring me that horizon." It is easy to see why Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (screenwriters for Pirates) used this book as "inspiration." The story is filled with high seas adventure and paranormal magic, two ingredients that made the Pirates series so incredibly popular.

This book, to put it frankly, was brilliant fun. The story was original and fast-paced, the characters well-written, and the detail flawless. I even found that Powers' detail when describing the pirate ships had me reaching for my laptop, frantically Google searching words like "mizzen mast" and "gunwale." A little over-educated in the maritime department for me, but I got along just as well.

Onto the characters. Our protagonist, Jack Shandy, aptly fits the characteristics of a slightly more-piraty William Turner. Handsome, simple, and someone who eventually succumbs to the life of a pirate. His love for the damsel in distress, Beth Hurwood, literally drives him across oceans. I was rooting for him the entire novel. SO many things got in the way of his rescuing Beth, I was ready to pull my hair out. But finally, they find each other. I absolutely loved that part of the story.

Powers did a good job writing the character of our main villain, Mr. Hurwood, Beth's father. After the loss of his wife, Hurwood will not stop until he had evicted his own daughter's soul from her body and replaced it with the soul of his dead wife. Pure evil, right? I sure thought so.

It was brilliant how Powers used the concept of vodun magic to explain famous events in piratical history, such as the death of Blackbeard. Blackbeard only "allowed" the Navy to kill him so he could be reincarnated, as he had spilled blood at the Fountain of Youth. I found Power's abstract concept of this strange magic instilled a sense of "foreverness" among the Golden Age pirate stories... that they truly will never die, and that their spirit will live on forever.

The action going on in this story blew me away. The sea battles were uber intense! A little gory, but hey, what do you think happens when you shoot someone with a pistol? The sense of adventure was strong and true throughout the entire novel.

All in all, if you are a fan of anything pirate, you must read this book! Tim Powers did an excellent job of bringing archaic pirates to life. This novel is action-packed, full of romance and strange magic, which ended up being a recipe for success! This is the ultimate pirate novel. A perfect summer read!


MY REVIEW

4.5****/*

Book #3 in Historical Fiction Reading Challenge



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