Breaking the Rules by Barbara Taylor Bradford

I was really disappointed with this book. I feel like BTB is really goon when it comes to writing books placed in the past, but when she tries to catch up with current times the story just looses strength. First of all, the whole M nickname…it was obvious who she was from the beginning, so I don’t see the point to keep her identity “hidden” for 3 quarters of the book. All the relationships happen in 2 pages! They all fall in love in a paragraph, sleep together immediately and suddenly they “know” they were meant to be. I am sorry, but I do not find this romantic, but just rushed. As for Birdie…why kill her husband? I mean, they were great together in past books, so what’s the point? Introduce a new rushed relationship with a nobody that just appeared for this book?. As long as JA story goes…I was happy to see him back, because I thought now the book is going to lift up again…no, once again, I was disappointed, everything is told in a paragraph, no development to what happened to Angharad, nor the daughter, the attacks are random and seemed unplanned, but then there is a sentence that says: it went according to plan…eh…what plan?. As always the description of the rooms and the clothes is really nice, and you can see BTB’s background as an interior designer, but the Harte women are supposed to be strong, well developed characters, as well as their partners. Nothing like this was true for the characters presented in this book…I would recommend stopping at Unexpected blessings for this saga if you don’t want to be utterly let down.

Red Glove by Holly Black

I am happy to say I think I just found a new series that I would like to follow. I am perfectly aware that this is a young adult book, but boy did I enjoy it. Unlike the first book, White Cat, a lot of things happened in this book that left me honestly surprised, thing I did not see coming until the very end. Why I think I like the most of this series so fa, is that the story carries itself alone, even if you take the “magic” part out of the equation. Casel is back to school, and who but Lila is in there too. Unfortunately, the curse she is under has not fade away and this drives Casel to be unsure about whatever she says or does. In another turn of events, Philip is dead, but no one knows who did it. Everyone approaches Casel with an offer, from Zacharov to the Feds, and I will not say what he decides, but I was so not expecting his final decision. We learn about new workers, and some things explained past behaviors. I was a bit sad at the way it ended, but I understand it leaves a lot of possibilities for the next book. 

Just Rewards by Barbara Taylor Bradford

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with this book. Although I really enjoyed the previous Harte’s saga books, this one was a bit weak. The description of characters in general was good, and BTB certainly knows how to put you in the scene with her descriptions of rooms and dresses. However, I feel that a lot of points were left flying. Characters as Angharad were barely described, and I think it had a lot of villain potential. Also, JA…I like him as a villain, in the other books, he was depicted pretty well, and his plans were explained carefully, as you would expect him to do if he was real…this time, all his moves seemed out of the blue, with no background, but hate. And then his “end” seemed to me like someone had no idea how to close that door, and just did it in a hurry. Once again, BTB makes a book easy to read, enjoyable in average as it carries you into England swiftly and I can only praise de way the scenario is done. But I am sad to think that a lot was said, but not much happened. 

White Cat by Holly Black

This is the first book that I’ve read from Holly Black, but I have to say I was happily surprised when I read it. The writing is engaging,  yet fast to read, it took me 3 days to read it, but in full honesty is not the only thing I have been reading and I have the lab (soon, vacations!!!). Anyway, even though the main character is a teenage boy, the author doesn’t fall in the “trend” of using as many terms as “kids these days” use to appeal this public, unlike what happens in the House of Night series (don’t get me wrong, I still read those books, but is getting less and less enjoyable). Back to White Cat.

The story is mainly about Cassel, a teenage boy born in a family of “workers” or people with magic powers. This is neither fairy magic, nor Harry Potter without wands. Basically, people can do things to other people ranging from giving them good luck to killing them just buy touching their skin your bare hands. Ironically he is the only one in his family to not be a worker. Also, he killed his childhood friend Lila. He is trying to forget about this, and trying to blend in his school, acting as normal as possible, until one night he wakes up in the roof of his school, no idea how he got there, and what is worst, no idea on how to get down. All he remembers is a white cat.

With this, Cassel is send out of the dorms on probation, and while staying with his family he starts realizing that his memories are not quite what he thought, and that maybe, just maybe he is not such a bad person after all.

The main character is easily lovable, he is nice, without being naive, and he is pretty “human” in his emotions, again, without falling in overreacting as most teenage heroes tend to do. One thing about this book though, is that a lot of critics I read kept saying that every time you thought something was going to happen, the story totally changed…not true for me. I don’t know if it is because I have read a couple of this type of series, but up to the end there weren’t a lot of surprises. Don’t get me wrong, you do get things that you didn’t except, and so far (keep in mind is the first book) everything that happens makes sense according to the own book mythology. 

I would say is a pretty good book, to disconnect from every day basis. The settings are well described, although they could be more embracing. I really enjoy a book that virtually transports you. This one is ¾ there.  

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This book was really good...hard to read I have to say, but really good. I liked how the book is written in first person, so you feel like you were Amir. As a woman, reading the part where the Taliban takes power was even harder, as I am profoundly offended by this extremist group, as a woman and as a humanist. But I would definitely tag this book as a page turner!. You will have moments where you want to close it and cry, but the end is so full of emotion it makes it worth it!. I am sorry I don't get to write more about it,but right know I'm in a period of my life that all my time and energy are being drained by other projects :(. But since I am not a quitter, you will still find small comments here and there...enjoy the book.