Books that hit us over the proverbial head will always be hard to put into words. Alice Walker’s tale of much more than just racism, certainly did that to me. The way she handled the format had me immersed immediately into this time of struggle, devastation, and perseverance. This was not an easy read, but the end was worth it. Celie saves her sister from marriage to a much older man by marrying him herself. Thankfully, her sister, Nettie, escapes their father and becomes a missionary to Africa. Celie’s home life is bleak and full of horrors until Shug Avery, a famous singer, stays at their house to recover from an illness. I was grateful Shug taught Celie how to stand up for herself, especially to her own husband. This novel earned its Pulitzer Prize status to me. If you haven’t read it, I recommend adding it to your TBR. (5/5 rating)
Tag: LGBT
Book Review – The Dawnhounds (Haven Realm Chronicles 1) by Sascha Stronach
This was my first book by Sascha Stronach, and I received this copy for free for an honest review. This story follows Yat Jyn-Hok as she performs her duties of a local policeman. She has been demoted to the night shift for the knowledge that she is gay. After she is murdered by members of her own police force, her body is resurrected, and she must wade through the tangents of old ancient magic and new betrayals. This was a cerebral read with high tech magic machines, intricate magic system, and a twisted plot of corruption that not everyone will enjoy. It was fun to learn the world’s layered history and politics through Yat’s eyes. I liked her supporting characters and the pirate angle of the story. If you decide to give this a try, just be warned that it will require more mental effort than usual on your part. (3/5 rating)
Book Review – The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
This was my first book by Caitlin Starling and September was the perfect time to remove it from my TBR. Our female MC, Gyre Price, is an amateur climber who lies about her abilities to obtain a climbing contract that could help her escape her planet. When she arrives, it’s to determine that all the help she assumed she’d have is boiled down to one person, Em. Em keeps an eye on her from the surface, but little things about her story don’t add up as they descend. I have climbing experience and Starling did excellent research into all the needed pieces to accurately describe the caving experience. She also enveloped us in a complex world of cave details like flooding and poisonous vegetation. I liked the interplay between Em and Gyre as they accomplish Em’s goal. The ending was a surprise, but I felt like the story could have been a bit shorter with the same result, though that is just my opinion. (3/5 rating)
Book Review – Princess of Dorsa (The Chronicles of Dorsa Book 1) – by Eliza Andrews
This was my first Eliza Andrews book. Princess of Dorsa, the first of two books, is set in a realm with many provinces with in, in the midst of war. It is a glorious plot wound around remember able characters. The plot was a but slow in the beginning but pick up after a quarter of the way through. It read quickly and I encourage you to give it a try today.
**Spoiler Alert**
The main character Tasia, is the daughters to an Emperor and has just reached the legal age to be married and bear children. Her father wants to set her up to a good match for the people, regardless of whether they each other. An assassins tries to murder her but she is saved by a pair of passing city guardsman. After that night, her father moves her up to be the sole heir, rather them being forced on a husband so soon. Even though she’s in love with her maid, she will have to marry eventually.
She begins attending proceeding meeting where realm barons arrive and give updates on the the wars. She is also given a female guard to follow her everywhere, Joselyn, and teach her how to fight. They end up on a mission to visit the warfront when the are attacked by a huge party, still trying to kill Tasia. When they finally reach the front, betrayal from unbelievable sources, kill her father and demand Tasia was the orchestrator. Her and Joselyn must fight their own and a war force to survive and save the kingdoms.
I didn’t really enjoy Tania all the time as she played the part of a spoiled royal in some scene where her actions were thoughtless. She did grow into her role, though, and became a force to he reckoned with.
My TBR in Honor of June and Pridemonth
1 – The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon
A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
2 – Taken (The Harvest series Book 1) – M.A. Church
We are not alone. In the year 2050 mankind’s never-ending quest for proof life exists in the universe is answered—in the form of massive space ships that appear without warning above the capitals of all major nations. The name of their planet is Tah’Nar—and is dying. The United States sets up a lottery system, and each young man between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-eight is assigned a number. Once a year, for the next five years, numbers will be drawn and a new set of one thousand males will be collected. The media coined the expression ‘The Harvest’ for when the Tah’Narian’s collect these young men.
Captain Keyno Landium Shou is a Tah’Narian starship captain who has been granted the right to take a mate, any mate, he wants during the last harvest on Earth. Dale was seventeen when the aliens first appeared. His parents assumed he’d be safe since the final collection would be done before he turned twenty-three. He didn’t fall within the guidelines established, so they took for granted he had nothing to fear.
They were wrong.
3 – Uncharted – Alli Temple
Treacherous storms. A mysterious pirate king. The prince’s unrelenting pursuit. Georgina and Cinder can only escape by following the uncharted course of their hearts. But just as a future together is within their grasp, Cinder’s past threatens to drag them both to the deep.
4 – Princess of Dorsa (The Chronicles of Dorsa Book 1) – Eliza Andrews
Rebellious Princess Natasia has always known that her fate is to marry a man her father can shape into his heir. But everything changes after a would-be assassin nearly takes Tasia’s life. Someone with means and connections is obviously trying to destabilize the Empire, but who? No noble family is above suspicion, so the Emperor takes the extraordinary step of naming his daughter his true heir.
Tasia suddenly finds herself saddled with learning to rule an entire Empire. But there are enemies on every side, threatening to disrupt the Empire’s fragile peace — there’s the long-standing and deeply unpopular war in the East, disagreements amongst her father’s closest advisors, angry lords threatening their defiance, and rumors of a faraway kingdom trying to sow discord.