Jacksprat Gets Lost in Fiction

Review of The Wolf By: Leo Carew             During the first battle with the Sutherners, Roper’s father, the Black Lord, is killed leaving Roper, his son, to become the new Black Lord. Not only is seen as just a boy, but he has enemies within and without.  Roper must prove himself to his people and take back their land from the Sutherners.             This is a pretty good debut.  Carew creates a beautiful and deadly wilderness and fills it with two different races of people that are warriors through and through.  The Anakim feels like a race of people who have been around for a long time and that they are part of the wilderness around them.  I don’t understand their love for battle, but it is fascinating to read about it.  Their actions on the battlefield determine who they are amongst the Anakim and at first Roper makes his life difficult when he chooses to run from battle right after his father dies.  He believes it is the right thing as they couldn’t defeat their enemy, but his co

Review of The Mysteries of Udolpho By: Ann Radcliffe             While traveling to visit her Aunt Madame Cheron, Emily’s father dies and she must live with her, but the pair don’t connect with each.  Her aunt’s new husband Count Montoni tries to arrange Emily’s marriage to a Count Morano, but he turns out to not to be as rich as he led them to believe.  Montoni uproots them to his Castle, Udolpho, in the Italian Mountains and holds them hostage, trying to force Emily’s aunt to give up her fortune.             This was quite the read and a page turner, but it was also an exhausting read.  I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t absolutely love it.  Emily is sensible and isn’t completely naïve, but I did get frustrated and annoyed with her in the last part of the story. The last part of the novel also felt like a whole another story.   Montoni is an unpredictable and frightening antagonist to read about as he tries to intimidate Emily and her aunt.  I appreciate how Emily stood up to him even in

Review of Jane Austen in Real Life:  A Life in Small Things By: Paula Byrne          Last year, for Jane Austen July, I read Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters by William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh, which was a sort of biography composed of letters written by Jane Austen or letters written to her.  Each section centered around her main novels and the progress of her life and career. It was one that showed Jane Austen’s real voice through the surviving letters. While Jane Austen in Real Life is a work that does something different by focusing on items that were used by her and the family members such as shawls from India, miniature portraits, Barouche carriages, writing desks etc.….  Byrne introduces each chapter talking about that item and then using it to lead into talking about the family and the author herself.  It is a fun take on exploring who Austen was, because these objects are things that she would use and reflect her world, literally.  Most biographies state

Review of Everybody was so Young By: Amanda Vaill             The Fitzgerald’s, Hemingway, Picasso, and Cole Porter are famous for their art and often studied in school, but not a lot is heard about Gerald and Sara Murphy, the caretakers of this group.  Sara was adored by all with Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Picasso all falling in love with her.  Gerald was a father figure and guide to them.  He was fascinated with how mechanics worked and became a painter known for his artwork such as “Watch” with shows the mechanism of a watch along with similar things.  He and Sara were involved in everything such as throwing lavish parties for their group and were always there for them.  They were supportive, but also honest with them, but didn’t appreciate it when their friends used them for inspiration for their work, especially when the work was disrespectful and unkind.  One of the prime examples being Scott using them as reference for the Divers in  Tender is the Night .  They especially weren’

Review of Time and Again By: Jack Finney Simon Morley is not satisfied with his life, and he gets the opportunity to travel back in time to New York City 1882 for a government sanctioned project.  He goes back in time to investigate a mysterious note that refers to a great fire and a blackmail scheme.  While in the past, he meets and falls for Julia, who might be caught in the crossfire. Like all time traveler stories, it begs the question of us interfering with the past.  Can we altar the past just by being there and can a small change in the past effect the present?  Simon must decide what to do and if his choices will have dire consequences.  It also becomes personal when he falls for Julia and she’s involved with the antagonist, unaware he could be committing a dangerous crime.  I felt Simon was relatable in the sense that he desired a simpler time, and he just appreciates this unreal experience he’s privileged to have.  Julia is kind and a strong woman.  She’s brave and tough, but

Review of Merchant of Venice By: William Shakespeare             Bassanio wants to marry his beloved Portia, but to do this he must pass a test.  Her suitors are presented three caskets: a gold one, a silver one, and a lead one and they must choose the one with her portrait in it, and if they don’t pick the right one, they cannot marry anyone else.  Bassanio also must help his friend Antonio make a deal with the moneylender Shylock, but Shylock doesn’t trust Antonio, because he is a Christian, while Shylock is a Jew.  Antonio also wants to elope with Shylock’s daughter, Jessica. This play isn’t as popular and talked about like  Hamlet  and  Romeo and Juliet.   One of the reasons I’m guessing has to do with Shakespeare villainizing a Jewish character, showing the ignorance of Christians towards Jews.  Ironically, I think this makes you more sympathetic towards Shylock.  He gets the short end of the stick and treated unfairly by the rest of characters, who are Christians and due to lack

Review of Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome By: Anthony Everitt             Most people, unless you’re a historian, are only familiar with Julius Caesar thanks to Shakespeare’s play and all the information on Cleopatra, while Hadrian isn’t as known.  According to Everitt, Hadrian did plenty of beneficial things for Rome, even lessoning the military ambition of Rome during his reign as Emperor.  Though, Hadrian proved to be a great military prowess when his adopted father, Trajan made him one.   The first part is about Trajan’s rulership as it is about Hadrian growing up, especially since he raised Hadrian after his father died, but took his sweet time to declare Hadrian next in line for Emperorship. It was the interference of Trajan’s wife; he was on his death bed when she arranged for Hadrian to become the emperor when his adopted father died.  He did a lot for the Empire, but Hadrian sadly wasn’t beloved, especially since he seemed to prefer Greece over Rome.  His male lover, Bithynia,

  Review of Dune  By: Frank Herbert I did it, I finally read the infamous Sci-Fi classic Dune, that has been recently readapted starring Timothee Chalamet. The story takes place on a desert planet telling the story of Paul Atreides. His father is murdered and his family is betrayed forcing Paul and his mother to go on the run. It turns out Paul is the prophesied chosen one, but is this such a good thing?  I almost DNFed this, but I’m glad I kept going and I think only reason was because had I put it down and stopped reading for a few days. It took me a little bit to get back into the story. It was mostly the writing style was somewhat different for me. We were in the characters heads a lot more told exactly what they were thinking, which annoyed me at first. Over time, I had gotten used to it. Herbert seems to hold your hand when it comes to his characters, but when it comes to the world building it’s a different story. He throws the reader into his world without guiding you through an

Review of Ashes, Ashes By: Jessica Goeken             Seventeen-year-old Adrienne Young is a combat magi making her one of the rare magi that can kill monsters.  For her new mission she finds college girls are worshipping and allowing the Witch Goddess Hecate to enter our plane of existence.  She wants a new vessel for her spirit, Liza, Adrienne’s foster sister, who is powerful enough despite being only 12.  Adrienne must stop Hecate all the while juggling school and her new boyfriend Alex who turns out to be a Hedge Witch.             This is a fun fast paced read that gives off Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes complete with snarky teen humor.  Adrienne is a badass struggling with trying to lead and teach her foster siblings how to fight monsters and harness their magi skills.  I liked seeing a love interest that could keep up with Adrienne and wasn’t some damsel in distress.  He had magic of his own and wasn’t overprotective, though he did worry about Adrienne a lot.  They had a good b

Review of Sophie’s Pack By: Dakiara             Sophie just got dumped via text message and then fired, so she finds herself stranded in dad’s old hometown.  She is suspiciously welcomed with open arms, and she starts to suspect there is something different about this town.             This is my first Shifter story with my second favorite creature in supernatural stories, werewolves.  Sophie as a main character is a fighter and strong willed.  The male characters try to dominate her, but she proves herself not easy to dominate and that she can hold her own quite easily. I wished Sophie had got a chance to Shift in the story, but we never see her change.  We do see how strong she is.   It was not that long with only ten chapters, but because of that I feel the story felt rushed and we didn’t get to know enough about the other characters.  There are two sex scenes that are very detailed and fun to read.  I liked that Sophie talks about binging Stranger Things.  I hope that the author wr

Review of The Other Bennet Sister By; Janice Hadlow             A compliment to Pride and Prejudice this is the story of the middle sister, Mary Bennet.  Like its predecessor, this novel is formatted into 4 parts.  The first part is Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes while part two takes place two years later after all her sisters have been married.  Mary struggles to find her place in her family and she finally tries to live with the Collins.   Part 3 finds her in London living with her aunt and uncle and this is where she starts to find her place.             Hadlow mimics Austen’s style quite nicely and expands Mary’s character perfectly.  This more than just tells a story of Mary finding romance, but finding herself.  Once she is out of the shadow of her siblings and overbearing mother Mary is able to figure things out about herself.  The pressure and expectations that are removed make it easier for her to make her own choices once she is on her own.  Mary is the one I most re

Review of The One True King (SFG&E: Camelot Years) By: Soman Chainani             Sophie is once again trapped in Camelot with Japeth, who is disguised as Rhian, under mind control.  Agatha wants to save Sophie, but Tedros and Japeth learn they have to compete in a tournament presented by Arthur to prove who is the one true king.             I finally finished the trilogy, and I must say I have mixed feelings.  I continued to enjoy the adventure with the fairytale characters, and the tournament was cool.  It makes perfect sense that they had to prove themselves by competing in a quest to show they are worthy.  The first task involves the Green Knight from the Arthur mythology, though it was Sir Gawain who faced the Green Knight not Arthur, and they had to find out what the Green Knight wanted.  I like how they included this epic poem even if they changed it a little by making it Arthur who faced the Green Knight.  The second task turns out to go in an unexpected direction when Agat