Al

Prudence has spent almost her entire life living with Sarah, a middle-aged woman living an average life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. One day Sarah doesn't return home. A few days later Sarah's daughter Laura and her husband Josh appear to gather belongings and vacate Sarah's apartment for her. Prudence, confused and distraught over Sarah's absence, is taken from her home to settle into a new life with Laura and Josh.

As Prudence tries to figure out what has happened to Sarah, she must adjust to life in Laura and Josh's pristine Upper West Side flat. Shortly after the move, Josh loses his job at a music magazine. He and Laura struggle to communicate, and Laura worries more than ever about maintaining financial security so that the worst won't happen again – that they won't become homeless, just as she and her mother did when she was only 14.

Laura grapples with haunting past memories and angry feelings towards her deceased mother. Through the anger and the uncertainty of what the future holds, Prudence provides much-needed comfort and comic relief. As the characters' relationships change and the past is confronted, it becomes clear just how binding love can be and how it can truly save the day.

This book is mostly told from the point of view of Prudence, a polydactyl tabby cat. I don't think I have ever read a book quite like this; even though Prudence's voice seemed a little snooty and/or cornball (which, what cat isn't aloof or goofy at some point or another?) at times, it was a refreshing POV. The reader gets to examine human interactions and idiosyncrasies from a feline perspective. Kind of interesting.

There were also some chapters written from Sarah and Laura's points of view, which helped to fill the novel and give critical insight into past events. I thought that the balance between past and present was good, and I never felt that important back story info was missing.

Gwen Cooper's writing style was easy to read, and her characters felt relatively well-developed considering how short this book is.

View the full review as well as others at my blog: electricYAWP

Laini Taylor has created a beautifully written and extremely original book in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I was hooked from the first page by her gorgeous, prose-like writing. It was never cloying or overdone. Her characters were fantastic. Karou, Brimstone, Issa, Akiva, Zuze, Mik – I couldn't help but fall in love with them. As histories and true identities were revealed, the character interactions gained an even greater depth.

Akiva & Madrigal? Swoon. Their dream? Maybe a little far-reaching, but beautiful all the same. What happened to both of them? Heartbreaking.

The last few chapters were somewhat painful to read, but in the best possible way. The tension between Karou and Akiva and the uncertainty of their futures made for a great cliffhanger ending.

I absolutely loved this book and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone I know. Miss Taylor, thank you for giving something so unique and lovely to us bookworms! (And thanks to my coworker for recommending it!)

The Good:
Angels vs. Chimaera. Much more than one-dimensional good vs. evil.
Great range of characters and relationships.
Humor, anguish, love, hatred, malice, mystery, and HOPE.

The Bad:
nothing, as far as I'm concerned

For my full review on this book and others, please visit: electricyawp.wordpress.com

I don't think it's possible to read a book with a Beatles-esque title and be disappointed. For the author's first novel, I didn't think this book was too bad; I absolutely loved her combined concepts of cryogenics, space travel, and dystopian society. The setting was very creative and well done, definitely nothing like I've ever read about before. Aside from the good points, I thought that the mystery of the murderer was a little too easy to solve, the characters could have been more developed and consistent, and the ending....Well, the ending wrapped up way too quickly, and wasn't quite what I was expecting. I don't know if the author has a sequel in mind, but if not, it was kind of an abrupt finish. Overall, a pretty good read.

I thought Eclipse was better than New Moon in some ways, but still didn't have the same impact as Twilight. Despite the ever-growing number of pages, I read through this one pretty quickly. I was a bit disappointed in the confrontation...I was looking for that part of the plot to be a bit longer, have more detail, be more exciting or something. I thought the end of the book was sped through a bit too quickly. Meyer could have added a bit more so that the ending wouldn't have felt rushed; I mean, what's another 15-25 pages in addition to 629? I would have read it.



And I'm glad that there was at least some sort of resolution between Bella and Jacob....though I'm still a bit confused about their relationship and why Bella was acting so whiny and confused in herself.... I guess I can understand the bit about how they're “human world” soul mates, etc....but I never really liked Jacob all that much, so I suppose I'm a bit biased and in favor of Edward XD



And even though Bella's attitude at the end bothered me, I'm glad that she can maybe think about someone else beside herself and let Alice do something that will make her happy. I just wish that Bella would be a little more sincere about it. Oh well.

I was a little wary of reading this at first...all the hype and rabid fan-girls were somewhat off-putting. But now that I've read it, I can honestly say that I'm a huge fan :) Stephenie Meyers' writing style is immensely easy to get into; the story is nicely paced, not too fast or slow. And oh mah gawd: Edward. Overall I really enjoyed reading Twilight and can't wait to get my hands on New Moon.

Wonderful writing style, a good view into human emotions and behaviors, very quick read...but this book left me wanting more. It spanned several decades (yes, as told in the book description), but I was disappointed when each chapter found the characters in a new year, a new situation...but without necessarily finishing up what had happened in the previous chapter. Too jumpy.

For being a tale of love between Agnes & Pierre, I found an in-depth look at these two characters lacking. I felt that there was much more focus on their families and the trials & tribulations they were going through, as opposed to what Agnes & Pierre were feeling. Brief glimpses into the main couple's love and emotions were not enough for me, sorry.

Worth the read, but wish it could have been longer/more in depth, or something. Will try reading Suite Francaise at some point, for sure.