Author: Lee
Words from Books
palimpsest
/ˈpaləm(p)ˌsest/
noun
- a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain
- something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form
They swept through me until I forgot to fight, forgot that I had ever been anything but a palimpsest of memories overwritten by visions.
– Rosamund Hodge, Cruel Beauty
First Lines Fridays: September 13, 2019
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
- Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
- Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
- Finally… reveal the book!
First Lines:
When Gregor opened his eyes he had the distinct impression that someone was watching him.
Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!
Completed: Green by Jay Lake
Words from Books
coruscating
/ˈkôrəˌskādiNG/
adjective
- flashing; sparkling
- severely critical; scathing
But I forced myself to look down into the coruscating ripples, hanging on to the rim with cramping fingers, my breath coming in choked gasps, until I thought I saw a shadow — a face —
– Rosamund Hodge, Cruel Beauty
First Lines Fridays: September 6, 2019
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
- Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
- Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
- Finally… reveal the book!
First Lines:
Gregor had pressed his forehead against the screen for so long, he could feel a pattern of tiny checks above his eyebrows.
Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!
Dedication Spotlight: Green by Jay Lake
Completed: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
I found this book difficult to finish, but it wasn’t all bad. And I know a lot of other people loved this book, so who knows, you might too.
The mythology and blend of fairytales (think rumplestiltskin + beauty and the beast + greek mythology + something else) was pretty interesting and the writing was decent. Unfortunately that’s about where my praise ends.
The whole plot of her “mission” really drags and drags and gets nowhere for the majority of the book. At one point the author resorts to changing an entire character’s personality out of nowhere in a desperate attempt to move the plot along.
And of course there’s the unexplained fact that Nyx is extra special and “not like other wives girls” that is never even remotely justified in the text, just commented on and forgotten.
What really got me, though, were the romances. They were both extremely insta-lovey and contrived. Like she kisses one for no reason after just meeting him and now she’s in love and then the other she hates except his shoulder? was? attractive? and now she has to fight her love for him and also have sex in a magic sky garden? The only redeeming factor of the world’s most unromantic love triangle was the way it wound up being resolved. I have definitely never seen that in a story before and I have to admit it was interesting, if not entirely surprising.
The ending was odd in that it felt both rushed and too long at the same time. It felt like the elements were kind of jumbled and then there had to be a little up-and-down that was meant, I think, to play on the reader’s emotions, but actually just tried my patience.
All in all I wanted to give it three stars, but I could only justify two and I can’t imagine I’ll read anything by this author again soon.
Darkestwings Reads