Author: LuminousLibro
Book Review: Assassin’s Quest
Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This final book in the trilogy broke my heart. I have the worst book hangover! My emotions are all over the place!
I was so surprised by the turn that the story took, and the massive scope of the lives of the characters. It all starts out so simple and then everything is changed and the whole world turns upside down. Masterful writing! So many plots threads that came together in unexpected ways, and I was in complete suspense wondering what wild thing could possible happen next!
(I won’t really say anything else about the plot, because it would be spoilers.)
My characters! Oh, my own darling characters! Fitz, Nighteyes, the Fool, Kettricken and Verity, and so many other beautiful supporting characters… I love them all. My heart is wrung into pieces for them. I feel like they are MY people, real people in my heart. I connected so strongly with each of them, and was utterly immersed in their stories.
I love it when you are reading a book and you completely forget that it’s a book. This story became real for me, and the hours flew by while I was inside Fitz’s world.
I can’t wait to read more of Robin Hobb!
Review: The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Two sets of twin baby brothers are cast adrift in a storm and wash up on shore in separate cities. When they are grown, they meet up again, not knowing of the others’ existence, and mistaken identities abound! One man’s wife mistakes him for his twin, and some creditors apply to the wrong twin for payment. The servants are totally confused, because they keep receiving conflicting commands from their masters.
While there are lots of hilarious situations, mix-ups, and puns and jokes galore, the plot is very straight forward with no surprises, and that made me a bit bored. It’s a very short play with a small cast of characters. It’s comedic fluff with not much of a story to it.
Maybe I’m just not in the mood for comedic fluff right now. Maybe if I saw it performed, it would be funnier, and I would enjoy it more. Reading a play is never the same as the real thing.
Recent Reads: Middle Grade
Book Haul Insanity
Review: Royal Assassin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love every single thing about this book! The storytelling is so masterful that I feel like these are real events and real people. I have all these emotions rolling around in my heart, and I’m still completely immersed in the Farseer world.
Fitz is the perfect main character. I can’t even explain to you how much I adore this person! He’s doing his assassin thing, and plotting and spying and fighting; but he’s also trying to have his own life, and keep his relationships with friends and family intact through all the upheaval.
The evil Red Ships are attacking the coast, and Fitz is caught up in the battles, with a unique perspective since he knows most of the undercurrent of politics and scheming that is going on. Continue reading
Poetry Review: Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage by George Gordon Byron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is an epic poem in four Cantos about a young man, disillusioned with life, who goes on a tour of Europe, reflecting on wars fought in various countries and their histories, and ultimately deciding that life sucks, and there is no love or peace to be found anywhere. (Yay. So it’s a happy poem.) There are many references to a hidden emotional pain of Harold’s that forced him to leave England and haunts him wherever he goes, marring his enjoyment of life. What that painful secret is, we never find out.
The poetry itself is beautiful, of course, but I was hoping for more of a plot instead of all these ramblings and reflections on history and society. The entire poem is rabbit trails with no real resolution! There’s little to no structure in the story. Continue reading
Book Review: Living as a Christian: Teachings from First Peter
Living as a Christian: Teachings from First Peter by A.W. Tozer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Tozer goes through most of the verses in 1 Peter, giving an overall view of what it means to be a Christian: what the true Christian believes, how the true Christian acts, and how the true Christian lives in a fallen world.
I found some of the writing to be wonderfully deep and insightful, but other parts were almost childish in their simplicity. There’s also a lot of repetition of the same ideas, same words, over again, and that got on my nerves.
The content is excellent with strong doctrine, but the writing is flabby and could use more editing. Continue reading
Review: Coriolanus by Shakespeare
Book Review: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hugo is an orphan child, living and working in a grand train station in Paris. He is the son of a clockmaker, and loves to tinker with mechanical things. He meets a bitter old man and a bookish little girl, and finds that he is not the only one struggling to make sense of his past losses.
This is a story told partly in words, partly in pictures, and with reference to the beginnings of the motion picture. It amazes me how the story encompasses so many mediums!
It’s a melancholy story about loss and heartbreak, but also about finding a family of your own and owning your past. Continue reading
Luminous Libro 