Kissing Shakespeare
By: Pamela Mingle
Publisher: Delecorte
Published: Aug. 14, 2012
Genre: YA
Rating:
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Miranda has Shakespeare
in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like
her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance
in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide.
Fellow
cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he
steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet
Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can
object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world
Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and
modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help,
Stephen claims, the world will lost its greatest playwright.
Miranda
isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care
about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen
Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only
chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda
doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required.
My thoughts...
This
was a fun YA time travel novel. Miranda is a 21st century teenage girl
who grew up surrounded my the theater. She stives to be better than her
mother who is a very accomplished actress. When Stephen takes her back
in time to meet young Will Shakespeare she must bring forth her best
acting skills and seduce young Will into following his dreams of writing
and acting instead of joining the priesthood.
I thought this
was a cute story and enjoyed reading it. Yeah, the whole love interest
was a no brainer but even so, it was still entertaining to read.
Honestly though, I couldn't help but picture an old fart whenever
"young" Will came into the picture. It's like trying to picture the Pope
as a teenager, you just can't do it.
I liked that there was no
love at first sight, no love triangle and the ending actually surprised
me. I really hope that the author leaves the book as is because it will
keep the story fresh and unique but I could see it turning into a series
with Stephen and Miranda going on time travel adventure to help save
the future but I hope that doesn't happen. I thought the story was
perfect the way it is and sometimes you just need to leave a little bit
to the imagination. But that's my personal opinion. Either way, I will
definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this debut author.
Favorite quote...
"I was lost from the first time I caught sight of you."
Grave Mercy
(His Fair Assassin #1)
By: Robin LaFevers
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: April 3, 2012
Genre: YA
Source: NetGalley
Format: eBook
Pages: 528
Rating:
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
My thoughts...
The book starts out showing you how rough of a life Ismae has had. Her mother tried to expel her from her womb with a poison that has left a hideous scar on her back. She's pretty much been shunned by everyone in her village and her father doesn't hesitate to be rid of her and arranges a marriage to a man whom knows nothing about her and is non too thrilled to find that she has been touched by Death. That is when she is whisked away to the convent where she is shone her true potential as an assassin. She is still a novice when she is sent to accompany Duval to Court as his mistress. However, while at court Ismae unlocks a lot of secrets and starts to question her faith in the convent and her feelings for Duval.
I liked Ismae's character and liked watching her grow and become more confident in herself. But I must say that my favorite characters was the Beast. Duval's right hand man, who is unfortunate enough to have a deformed face (hence the nickname) but deep down he is a caring guy who would do anything for those under his protection. I don't know why I found myself gravitating to him when he wasn't in the story that much but there was just something about him that grabbed my attention every time he appeared in the book.
I found the world that LaFevers created to be very interesting. A convent of assassins who's purpose is to carry out the wish of the Saint of Death? Sign me up! The only reason why it got 3 stars is because well, did you see the amount of pages in this book? At first I thought that maybe there was an extra story at the end but nope, it's all one book. There is a lot of talking going on while Ismae is at court and although some of it is relevant to the story, a lot of it is not. And when you have a book that is that long... well I sort of skimmed over the random babble going on in the story so that I could get back to the important parts.
Favorite quote...
"Are men truly such idiots that they cannot resist two orbs of flesh?"- Ismae
My Super Sweet 16th Century
By: Rachel Harris
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date: Sept 11, 2012
Genre: YA
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On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.
Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?
Excerpt
I hear their muffled whispers and understand every Italian word. Every witty comment made at my expense.
It’s like my brain is automatically translating.
I bunch the soft fabric of the dress in my hand and then reach up to feel the ribbon in my hair. I lightly skim my fingers over my chin and feel my lack of zit. I take in the costumes of the crowd, the stench of the animals, and the Italian I can now speak and understand. And suddenly it hits me.
Reyna must have pulled some kind of gypsy mojo.
Maybe this is one of those nifty “change your life” magic scenarios like in the movies. I mean, mostly I’m still expecting to blink and be right back in the midst of overpriced, gaudy tourism, but for now, the gypsy-time-warp explanation is infinitely better than thinking I’ve lost my mind. As I decide to go with that option, I feel my frantic tension melt away.
The growing crowd seems to notice my change in demeanor and begins shooting one another amused looks, but I don’t care anymore. A smile stretches across my face. Evidently, I was wrong earlier; Reyna is a psychic mind reader, because if this is her special brand of bibbity-bobbity-boo, then she made my exact daydream from earlier in the courtyard come to life.
The long red gown, the braided hair, the Italian merchant’s daughter, the time period. I am in Renaissance Florence.
I stare dumbly at the ground, the words and reality sinking in.
I’m in Renaissance Florence!
Want to connect with the author? You can swing by her website, and find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.
(River of Time #1)
By: Lisa T. Bergren
Publisher: David C. Cook
Published: Feb 1, 2011
Genre: YA
Source: Bought
Format: eBook
Pages: 384
Rating:
What do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?
Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives among the romantic hills with their archaelogist parents. Stuck among the rubble of the medieval castles in rural Tuscany, on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds...until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.
Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting.
My thoughts...
When Gabi accidentally finds herself in Italy... in the 1300's, she initially thinks that she has stumbled across a reenactment. She comes out of a tomb to see Crimson and Gold knights fighting each other and it isn't until she notices that people are actually dying and that one of the guys is coming after her that she realizes that she is in trouble.
Gabi is a very strong character and keeps her wits about her when she realizes what has happened. Even though she cannot seem to wrap her mind around the time warp, she is quick enough to adapt the terminology of the times to pass as one of them regardless of the fact that the knights found her in a tomb wearing skinny jeans and a tank top. What she doesn't know is that she stumbled across a brewing feud between the two lands and is inadvertently placed in the center of it.
I did have one complaint about this book. There were a TON of grammar issues as well as formatting issues. Now maybe my copy just got screwed up in the downloading process but when there are 1's for I's, misspelled words and jumbled sentences, it really distracted from the storyline.
However, I did find the story to be quite entertaining. I love the romance between Gabi and Marcello. They are attracted to each other but Marcello is betrothed to another to help build alliances. Regardless of his circumstance, Marcello sneaks time for Gabi and is always quick to protect her but is very mindful of how close he is to her and backs off when he is about to step over the line. I also enjoyed the grittiness of this book as well. There is killing, mention of rape and a couple of close calls for Gabi. It wasn't your typical fluff YA piece.
Favorite quote...
"She glanced left and right, all wide-eyed and innocent. Innocent as a streetwalker."
