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Posts Tagged ‘First-Person’

REVIEW: Good Enough by Paula Yoo

By Jia • Feb 14th, 2008 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category, Reviews

Dear Ms. Yoo,
I love reading young adult novels featuring strong narrative voices. I think it’s one of the key strengths of the genre, and often the place where many fail. It’s difficult finding a voice that sounds authentic and unforced, but I’m pleased to say this novel does not disappoint.
Patti Yoon is entering [...]



REVIEW: The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

By Jia • Feb 11th, 2008 • Category: A Review Category, A- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Bray,
Jane is right. The hardest reviews to write are those for the books you love. How can I capture the strengths of an 800-plus page book in only a few hundred words? The task is daunting and I’d be lying if I said I’m not overwhelmed by the thought. There’s so much good [...]



REVIEW: Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

By Jia • Jan 10th, 2008 • Category: A Review Category, A- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Chen Headley,
It’s no secret that I’m bored with Gossip Girl-style young adult novels. Teen girls being nasty to one another and stabbing each other in the stab? Surely, there’s more to contemporary young adult novels than this. So when I received a copy of your book, I was thrilled. [...]



REVIEW: Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel by Ronda Thompson

By Jia • Jan 8th, 2008 • Category: B Reviews Category, B- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Thompson,
I regret that I’m writing you this letter posthumously. While I didn’t enjoy your Wild Wulfs of London trilogy as much as I’d hoped, I know many people who did and your loss affected many fans. And when Jayne sent me this book, I found myself sharing their feelings. Not only was it [...]



REVIEW: Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein

By Jia • Dec 13th, 2007 • Category: B Reviews Category, B+ Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Stein,

I love urban fantasy but lately I’ve found myself getting tired of the genre. Too many books feature the usual suspects (vampires) and the same plot conflicts (love triangles). So when Jane sent me a copy of your book, I admit I sighed. A vampire bounty hunter? And a comparison to Anita Blake [...]



REVIEW: The Rules of Gentility by Janet Mullany

By Janine • Jul 31st, 2007 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category

Dear Ms. Mullany,
Like Jayne (who recently reviewed this book), I read and enjoyed your debut, Dedication, shortly before the Signet Regency line went kaput. I had liked the book enough to hope that you might get a contract before too long. Luckily for me, not one, but two publishers were smart enough to [...]



REVIEW: Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

By Jane • Mar 9th, 2007 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category

Dear Ms. Mead:
When I pulled up your book out of the stack to read, I thought that if I had to read one more female first person narrated paranormal that I I may poke out my eyes and never read again. Then I began to read and remembered why I had read so many [...]



REVIEW: Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughan

By Jane • Mar 8th, 2007 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category

Dear Ms. Vaughan
And so it ends. Warlord brings to a close the stories of Lara and Keir which began two years ago in the surprising debut of Warprize and continued in last year’s Warsworn. In a genre full of vampires, werewolves, dukes and carriages, this series brings the reader back to a simpler time [...]



REVIEW: Real Vampires Have Curves by Gerry Bartlett

By Jayne • Mar 7th, 2007 • Category: D Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms Bartlett,
I have to be honest and tell you that if this hadn’t’ve been a review book, I wouldn’t have gotten more than 1/2 way through it. As it was, I kept trying to think positively and flipping pages. At the halfway mark, I started skimming. By the end, I knew I would not [...]



REVIEW: Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas

By Jane • Feb 27th, 2007 • Category: C Reviews Category, C+ Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Kleypas:
After 20 plus historical novels, you’ve decided to change course and write a first person contemporary woman’s fiction novel. Sugar Daddy is billed as a big story featuring a plucky innocent heroine and her dilemma between two rich, alpha businessmen. The narrator, Liberty is a charming and sweet girl who would have [...]



REVIEW: Drop Dead Gorgeous by Linda Howard

By Jane • Dec 2nd, 2006 • Category: C Reviews, C Reviews Category, Ebooks, Reviews

Dear Ms Howard:
I wasn’t really much of a Blair fan the first time around and with any book in the first person, if you don’t love the narrator, you aren’t going to love the book. I didn’t find her as irritating as I did in To Die For, but I don’t think I’m up [...]



REVIEW: Passion by PF Kozak

By Jane • Sep 21st, 2006 • Category: D Reviews, Ebooks, Reviews

Dear Ms. Kozak:
This book. Well, let’s just say that words are not sufficient to describe my feelings about this book. So I resorted to pictures. You have my permission to use this is an ad for your book, if you like. Just wondered if your book was James Frey inspired or [...]



REVIEW: Mona Lisa Awakening by Sunny

By Jane • Aug 30th, 2006 • Category: C Reviews Category, C- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Sunny,
Ordinarily I wouldn’t address my letter so familiarly given the fact we don’t know each other but your nom de plume is just one word: Sunny. Apparently, you are the wife of big name author, Da Chen. I assume the connection should be mentioned in the review because it is mentioned a [...]



REVIEW: Tall, Dark and Dead by Tate Hallaway

By Jayne • Jun 29th, 2006 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category, Reviews

Dear Ms. Hallaway,
The cartoon cover, the back blurb and lots of the reviews/descriptions at Amazon would lead people to think this is a comedic Vamp Lit. Let me tell readers that it’s not. There are a few humorous jokes and situations but for the most part, you’ve made this book pretty serious.
Garnet Lacey is [...]