Genre: Historical

Review: Blood and Ink – Stephen Davies

Review: Blood and Ink – Stephen Davies

Blood and Ink mesmerised me! Very well done, mixing actual events and fiction, showing the differences in muslim faiths, how some are stricter than others, and what was done by a people to rise against their oppressors. Story: I was transported by Blood and Ink, through the way it unfolded two sides of a story. How it showed two sides of a war. Two sides of a religion. How good and bad can be blurred, and how difficult it is to change sides once a stance is taken. Because the story is based on true events, I think it was very realistic. Even ficionalised history can be well done, and I found the way everything unfolded to be enlightening. Taking […]

Posted 6 September, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 18 Comments
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Review: Now I Rise – Kiersten White

Review: Now I Rise – Kiersten White

Now I Rise took me on a fantastic trip through history and various countries, following Lada in her quest for power – on her own. Now I Rise is one of my favorite 2017 releases! There, now that’s out of the way, you have been warned that this review might not be as coherent as it could be, because I’m so happy about this book I just want to say : “Run and buy it! Then shut yourself in somewhere to read it!” That’s how good it is! Lada has grown up quite a bit, but now, she’s without Radu and Mehmed, and while she definitely wanted to have allies, they were not the best choice for her to win […]

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Review: Lord of Pleasure – Erica Ridley

Review: Lord of Pleasure – Erica Ridley

Lord of Pleasure was a delightful read with masquerade balls, a scandalous rakish Earl and a mousy, but respectable lady. I had such fun reading this story, and can’t wait for more in this well done series Lord of Pleasure was a delicious treat to the senses! The masquerade balls were such a perfect opportunity for both Lord Wainwright and Miss Camellia to actually be themselves, not the person society had forced them into by labelling them. Wainwright showed up in the scandal sheets’ caricatures more often than he liked, and Camellia was starting to think that being the good sister wasn’t working so well for her. Not when her parents had decided to marry her off to a man […]

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Review: Lord of Chance – Erica Ridley

Review: Lord of Chance – Erica Ridley

Lord of Chance is a fantastic start to Ridley’s new historical romance series. I loved both Charlotte and Anthony, their vulnerabilities were so well hidden they hardly even noticed them anymore themselves. Lord of Chance showed the backside of the ton, of how it was to try to live up to the ideals of people who could change their mind on a whim. Anthony had fled London for Scotland to escape his creditors. An inveterate card-player, he owed much more than he could win back in time to escape jail. Charlotte was looking for an elusive laird, the one who had left his mother behind before he knew she was with child. And which has let Charlotte’s mother make ends […]

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Review: And I Darken – Kiersten White

Review: And I Darken – Kiersten White

And I Darken was such a good surprise – reading about Lady Lada from when she was a mere child was a dark and delicious adventure. Have you ever been filled with glee when you realise who exactly the main character in your current read is? That’s what happened to me with And I Darken! Lada is Lord Vlad’s daughter, and she’s a princess like no other. When she was born, even the nurse who took care of her found her to be ugly. Her mother was a weak, almost invisible woman, and her father a hard, dark and mean man. When her brother was born a year after her, he was a complete opposite of Lada in every way. He […]

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Review: The Night Mark – Tiffany Reisz

Review: The Night Mark – Tiffany Reisz

The Night Mark deals with hope – how we need hope to move forward. To get out of bed in the morning. To care for ourselves and others. To care for our planet. The Night Mark has a magical feel to it, and a lot of that comes from Reisz’s excellent writing. It’s like a novel in a poem with a fantastical story in which realistic characters live their lives to the best of their abilities. Hope and love are strong themes, and I had to wipe away a few tears at the ending, because it was so sweet and tender, and I wanted to stay with the characters a little longer. I think what I love the most every […]

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Review: Lessons in Pleasure – Victoria Dahl

Review: Lessons in Pleasure – Victoria Dahl

Lessons In Pleasure shows just how long we have come, as women, since the time at which this novel is set. Well written, hot and passionate – and even with such a short story, the characters were well fleshed out and relatable. Lessons in Pleasure is a novella set in the past, when ladies weren’t supposed to have any sexual pleasure, when men had their needs, and their wives were supposed to close their eyes and think of England. Women who were passionate were seen as eccentric at best – insane at worst, and always, always, men held the keys to their future. James really wanted his wife to like him, but he hadn’t the slightest idea how to make […]

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Review: Lilac Girls – Martha Hall Kelly

Review: Lilac Girls – Martha Hall Kelly

Lilac Girls follows three young women from the very beginning of WWII, they are in very different situations, and following them was both tough, terrifying and strangely wonderful. While Lilac Girls is a fiction novel, some of the story is based on a real person, and the letters she sent to people during WWII. I found the story to be incredibly well written, and showing the different points of views of the three main characters in an extraordinary way. One young woman was sent to a concentration camp, with her mother and her sister. Another young woman – who had almost finished her education to become a doctor, and she starts her work in a concentration camp. The third young woman […]

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Review: The Japanese Lover – Isabel Allende

Review: The Japanese Lover – Isabel Allende

The Japanese Lover is a deep, poetic story, where lives are intertwined and influence each other. Spanning over several decades, the story delves into characters secret lives, and show that love is indeed very strong. My The Japanese Lover review: The Japanese Lover follows Alma Belasco’s life, from she was a little girl and until she was an old woman in her eighties, and she tells her story to one of the carers, Irina Bazili. These two women, who seem to have nothing at all in common shared their days at Lark House Nursing Home, and Alma soon decided to pay Irina to be her assistant, so she could share documents from her past with her grand-son, Seth. Filled with […]

Posted 30 October, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 13 Comments
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Review: Lair of Dreams – Libba Bray

Review: Lair of Dreams – Libba Bray

The plot thickens in Lair of Dreams, with more players in the big game of Diviners, and several sub-plots to bring the main one to light. Well written with many characters who do their best to stay true to themselves, it was an exciting story. My Lair of Dreams review: There are even more things going on in the lives of the characters in Lair of Dreams than there was in The Diviners! Evie has her own radio show, but that plus the partying is more tiring than exciting to her as time goes on. Especially Henry and Ling are more present as they have to navigate the dreams of others to try to find out what is really going […]

Posted 12 October, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 20 Comments
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