Austen

Review of The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Gläser

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Synopsis:
Emma is used to things going her way. Her father is headmaster of her prestigious boarding school, her friends take her advice as gospel, and she’s convinced that a relationship with her long-time crush is on the horizon.

As it turns out, Emma hasn’t seen anything yet. When she finds an old book in an abandoned library, things really start going Emma’s way: anything she writes in the book comes true.

But the power of the book is not without consequences, and Emma soon realizes that she isn’t the only one who knows about it. Someone is determined to take it from her—and they’ll stop at nothing to succeed.

A new boy in school—the arrogant, aloof, and irritatingly handsome Darcy de Winter—becomes Emma’s unlikely ally as secrets are revealed and danger creeps ever closer.

Review:
This book was amazing! I was so sad when this ended that I’ve waited quite a while before writing the review since I finished it a few days after I wrote the review for A Killer’s Kiss. This book had everything; adventure, mystery, romance, fairy tales! Even now I find myself avoiding writing this review because it means the book is over. The book is a complete story, and I quite enjoyed it. It was quite hard to put down!

I also absolutely love the not-so-subtle Austen nod both with Pride and Prejudice in Darcy and Emma’s relationship because he is sooo frustrating but also Emma having many of the same characteristics as the titular character in Austen’s Emma with her meddling and desire to help which doesn’t always… well… help. I had thought I figured out a secret of a few characters and I was pleasantly pleased to be wrong!

This book was honestly so much better than the blurb makes it out to be and I emphatically recommend it. This was one of those stories where even though it was over you just wished you could keep on living in that world and continue on another adventure with the characters. I recommend this book even higher than The Book Jumper, which I had quite liked, but this book just fully sucked me in and I certainly didn’t want to leave at the end!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

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I am quite excited to tell you that I have finished the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith today, January 11th (I started it on the 8th).  This is my book club book of the month, so I won’t give too much away now, lest we discuss it later but I had to share a few of my feelings while they are fresh.

I absolutely love this book, and while there are some parts that irritated me, I find that this one very closely rivals the original Pride and Prejudice in my heart.

This is an absolutely amazing book, and since the movie is coming out next month, you’d definitely do well to read it now!

January’s Book of the Month (Book Club)

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As stated in my end of the year tidings post, I’ve decided to start doing a book a month in the new year that I will share with you on the first, and around the end of the month we will discuss!  Since this is the first of January 2016 let’s begin!

The book of the month for January is

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

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It’s no secret that I love Pride and Prejudice, and this novel is a retelling of a classic.  This novel is written by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, has been made into a movie, which I am quite looking forward to seeing.  It comes out on February 5th, and you can learn more about the movie here.  As always I would prefer to read the book first before seeing the movie or television show, though that doesn’t always end up being the case (see Austenland) I definitely intend to with this book.

P.S. The Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter movie is phenomenal.  Watch it!

Review of Austenland by Shannon Hale

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Remember that time I said I had done all of the reviews for the past year?  I forgot about this book, which I bought in hardcover and promptly inhaled.  This brings my total of novels read up to 56 for 2015!

Austenland: A Novel
By Shannon Hale

Star Rating: 

Genre: Romance

Number of Pages: 208

Date Started: December 24, 2015
Date Finished: December 26, 2015

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Synopsis:(From Amazon)
Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man―perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?Review:
I’m not going to lie– I saw the movie to this book first (because I hadn’t realized it was based on a book).  I absolutely adore this novel, and it is so much more than the movie.  I understand the choices made for the movie in regards to plotline and simplifying the plot for theatre, and the movie works, but this book is amazing.  In keeping with telling the truth, I will have to say that I have yet to see the BBC Pride and Prejudice– but I feel that it is now my duty to see it!

Jane has bad habits when it comes to dating.  She’s a hopeless romantic, like so many of us, and finds herself too easily caring and taken by any attractive guy.  Chivalry is not dead, and many, like Jane, hope to find a man who will be respectful and proper, while still having a spark of romance.  Hale shows what has oftentimes been proven true: sometimes, you need to stop looking because then you never know what might find you.

61JHvyUN4ZL._UX250_Author Bio: (From Amazon)
New York Times best selling author Shannon Hale started writing books at age ten and never stopped, eventually earning an MFA in Creative Writing. After nineteen years of writing and dozens of rejections, she published The Goose Girl, the first in her award-winning Books of Bayern series. She has published seventeen books for young readers including the Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy and its two sequels, multiple award winner Book of a Thousand Days, superhero YA novel Dangerous, and the first four Ever After High books. Her novels for the adult crowd include Austenland (now a major motion picture starring Keri Russell) and Midnight in Austenland. Shannon and her husband Dean Hale have collaborated on several projects such as Eisner-nominee Rapunzel’s Revenge and early chapter book series The Princess in Black. They spend non-writing hours corralling their four young children near Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

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