Madrigal (Short Review)

Author: Jennifer Linforth

Genre: Fiction - Suspense & Romance.

Source: Personal copy.

My Rating: 4 out of 5.

Book one in the Madrigal series.

Young Anna has been leaving packages for the strange gentleman she once followed deep into the cellars of the Paris opera house, hoping that the contents can be of some good use to him, unknowing that it would be her very own self that he would come to desire, and that her mysterious maestro is none other than the hunted (though thought to be dead) Phantom of the Opera.

Have I ever mentioned how badly I just want to see Erik find someone who will accept him and give him the things he has been starved of for all of his sad and horrifying life? Because I really do. I have read one (great) book where he finds someone to be happy with, but comparing Erik's by the two different authors, I like Jennifer Linforth's Erik better. I think she did a wonderful job writing him and I think that Anna is the perfect match for him. Rough around the edges, she has had a very trying life full of bad men just out to use her however they can. While Erik has spent his life in the shadows upon shadows of darkness, Anna gives him a flicker of light. Of course he doesn't trust her at first, but after what I wish and hope to be a final sort of goodbye to the ever present in some way Christine, Erik and Anna are on their way together on a path that is continued in book two. (Abendlied, which is out now.) I really enjoyed this book, and I can hardly wait to find out what happens in the series as a whole, and I am so glad I have found an author that really seems to understand Erik.

The Book Thief. (Short Review.)

Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Fiction, YA
Source: Personal copy.
My Rating: 5 out of 5.

The year is 1939. And Death is the narrator, calmly telling the story of a girl he calls the book thief, Who later comes to be known as Leisel Meminger. Sent to live with foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany; it is on her journey there where it takes place the very first time: Leisel, steals a book.
I found this book extremely appealing mentally as well as visually. Not only is it set in a time in history I am greatly interested in, I really enjoyed the different style of this book. It was wonderfully written and well, haunting really. Beautiful and heartbreaking with lovable and slightly odd but serious characters. This quickly became one of my favorites.

Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series: 3 Short Reviews.

Living Dead in Dallas, Sookie Stackhouse #2: Author: Charlaine Harris Genre: Fiction Source: Personal Copy My Rating: 4 out of 5. -- In Living Dead in Dallas, Sookie and Bill travel to Dallas to help locate a missing Vampire, and of course, encounter all sorts of interesting, and scary, obstacles. Including a horrifying run in with The Fellowship of the Sun Church; which is against vampires. However, Sookie doesn't leave for Dallas until after she discovers Lafayette, the cook at Merlotte's bar & grill, dead in the backseat of a car in the parking lot of Merlotte's. Not just any car, but the car of detective Andy Bellefleur. When Sookie returns to Bon Temps, she does all she can to find the real murderer. -- I really enjoyed this book. Like all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels I've read so far, it was fun to read more and get to know the characters better. Especially Eric Northman, who had definitely become my favorite vampire while reading this book.

Club Dead, Sookie Stackhouse #3: Author: Charlaine Harris Genre: Fiction Source: Personal Copy My Rating: 4 out of 5. -- In Club Dead, Sookie finds herself traveling to Jackson Mississippi, to search for her vampire boyfriend, Bill. & She gets a little help from Eric Northman, and a handsome young Werewolf named Alcide Herveaux with troubles of his own in the form of his crazy (and I do mean CRAZY) ex-girlfriend Debbie Pelt. -- I was so disappointed in Bill after this book. I never really liked him during the first two novels, but now I had a valid reason to wish for Sookie to find somebody else. (Personally, I rooted for Alcide even before she found Bill..) I think Sookie got a big eye-opener in this book and I was really glad for that, and what she did at the end of the book, I laughed right along with her.

Dead to the World, Sookie Stackhouse #4: Author: Charlaine Harris Genre: Fiction Source: Personal Copy My Rating: 4 out of 5. -- In Dead to the World, Sookie is driving along home when she spots a naked man running on the side of the road, when she gets closer she recognizes him as Eric Northman. (Hooray!) She soon finds out that his memory has been erased by witches in which whom he refused to comply with. (Boooo. *madface*) She soon contacts Pam, Eric's second in command, and it is decided that Eric should stay with Sookie until the mess is straightened out. During that time things get a little hot between them as it turns out that Eric without his memory is pretty enjoyable. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end as a war between vamps, weres and witches is about to erupt, and Sookie's own brother Jason, goes missing with a shocking result. -- I loved this book especially, because there was so much Eric in it. I don't know what it is about him (a snarkiness maybe..) that I enjoy, but as I said before he is one of my favorite vampires. But I think I actually prefer him with his memory intact, as he is by the end of this novel.