The ramblings of a bibliophile.
This is just an easy, fun reader. It’s not intense. It’s not overly memorable. Just easy and fun. And just a little bit cute. Alright, in some moments more than a little bit. Although there is a murder or two… so maybe not so cute…
I’m totally in love with this story. I can’t wait to get the next book in the series… because seriously?!?!? The cliff hanger at the end of this! I actually turned the page about three times because I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. Who ends a story on a sentence like that? But it was so damn good… now I just have to wait until next payday… if I can.
I thought that this was going to be a bit of a love story. From the title to the first statements of I remember when I first saw you… there was something incredibly romantic about this tale. It didn’t quite turn out that way. But there was still that beautiful, bittersweet nostalgia within the story. One that left me feeling happy and complete when I finally finished this tale.
I loved the reflective style of this writing. It kind of foreshadowed the fact that something untoward was going to happen. But it didn’t give anything away. Just left you with an intensely curious and vaguely uncomfortable feeling as the story unfolded.
I really wouldn’t call this a romance. And I would not have expected to find such a story in a collection of vampire romance stories. There is just nothing romantic about this tale. Obsessive, yes. Vampiric, kind of. But romantic? Nope, nope, nope. And if someone reads this thinking that it’s romantic… they need to sort their brains out a little better…
This story was really and truly weird. And not in a, huh, that was a little weird, but fun kind of way. Just in a… yup. That was weird. I don’t know how to feel about it kind of way.
This is a quick, sharp pithy little poem. Each line had few words and made the poem flow with a quick beat. Which was perfect for a poem which featured the trickster Anansi. After all, tricksters are always portrayed as quick, nimble and intense characters. They don’t stay still for long, and they’re constantly on the move. Kind of like this poem.
One of my primary school friends used to be obsessed with A Series of Unfortunate Events. I never read them as a child. But, I recently saw the entire boxset collection for sale online and I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve always just been so curious. And man I’m so glad that I succumbed! There is something brilliant, hilarious and witty about this writing. Also a little bit unique and easy that makes you want to keep reading the whole series… even as a grown adult.
This story has a completely surreal quality to it. Which can be said for a lot of the Gaslamp stories I’ve read… but this one just takes on a whole new level. I think it’s the combination of different worlds and the childlike dream state that is perpetuated throughout. It just makes this feel incredibly dreamlike – and makes it a little hard to follow through.
Read more We Without Us Were Shadows by Catherynne M. Valente
This is a lot less romantic than many of the other stories in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance collection. In fact, there’s a hint of incest. Just a hint. And not enough to be icky (and believe me, I have read some icky tales lately…). But, mostly, the romance within it isn’t really gushy… they hook up and there is a little lust, but it’s only just glossed over. Which makes it different and refreshing compared to many of the other tales throughout the collection.
