Julia's Top Ten Books I Had Strong Emotions Over

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Hey everyone! Julia here. It's time to take a look down memory lane. What were those books that made you laugh so hard you fell out of your chair? The ones that made tears stain the pages in front of you? The ones that had you so angry you hurled it across the room? Today on The Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Tuesday....

Top Ten Books I Had Strong Emotions Over

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
I think this is the only anger on my list so let's just get this out of the way. First off, though I am loathe to admit it, I actually enjoyed Twilight. My LiveJournal was full of critical reviews, mostly positive. When I read New Moon, I was a little ... judgmental of our protagonist. I think it was the blank pages when I first went "Really?". But I read it and whatever. I have opinions, I wont give them here. Eclipse, however, I literally slammed the book shut three times. I can't remember each point specifically, but I was just... disgusted. I never read Breaking Dawn.

2. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I bawled so hard through the last 100 pages of that book, I had to take breaks to clear my vision.

3. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
I can't place the exact emotion that I emoted, but I do remember that this book gave me that "Wow omg" of a 13 year old. I may have even been younger that that when I actually read it. To be honest I am afraid to go back and read it, because I want to hold on to my warped memory of it.

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I read this in high school and just though it was so powerful. It filled me with, well, empowerment I guess (is that even an emotion? I don't know). It just was ... wow.

5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Every time I read this book, without fail, I cry. The raging tears or quit trickle depend on the stage and moment of my life, but still. Water leaks from my eyelids.

6. The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
Another wow book that also made me cry. I was so attached to the characters that by the end when things were hitting fans and climaxes were coming to a head with secrets revealed... wow. Enthralled tears.

7. Movies in 15 Minutes: The Ten Biggest Movies Ever For People Who Can't Be Bothered by Cleolinda Jones
This book, and all the Movies in 15 Minutes that are online, are so freaking hilarious. I could read them for hours. They never fail to bring me to tears, but with laughter. (Jeez with all these tears I am crying throughout this list I must sound like an emotional wreck!) Anyway, if you have never heard of her and want to check out a sample, the online ones can all be found here. Hilarious.

8. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
I couldn't give you too many details about why this was an emoted tag for me, but I do remember that it was a genuinely sweet and heartbreaking coming of age story for a girl in ancient Persia. It was a lovely read.

9. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible by A.J. Jacobs
Jumping back into comedy, this book is comedy gold. Literally trying to live the old testament. My favorite image of this book was him having to buy a stool because one of the rules was he couldn't sit where a woman who was menstruating had sat and his wife went around sitting on all the furniture on purpose. Priceless!

10. Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison
This book is a memoir about one woman's life long journey as a foster mother. At the time I was wondering what it would like to someday be a foster parent, and there was surprisingly little literature I could find, but in my search I found this book. The story is mostly about her start with fostering and the story just flowed... it really ran the gamut of emotions.


Other books on my Goodreads 'Emoted' Shelf not on the list mostly because I have reviewed them or they are really popular and I was going for the out there choice:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Hunger Games, The Book Thief (and any Holocaust/WWII book I have read ever), the Harry Potter series (book 5 and 7 especially), The Kite Runner, stories about daughters in ancient China, Flowers for Algernon, Titanic books, I am the Messenger and various romance novels.

PS: I am so exhausted I just number this list 1, 2, 5

Paula Reviews "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts"

Book: The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts by Louis De Bernieres
Publishing Info: Secker and Warburg, 1990
How I got it: picked it up at the local library book sale for 50 cents because I liked the cover art
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 5 stars

I just put this book down and ran over to the computer to write the review before I lost the sense of joy it left me with. I know that this review is going to be a challenge for me though, because so much happened in this book and there were so many characters that if I focus on one thing, I’ll be leaving out multitudes of equally wonderful things that happened in a different part. This book took me longer to read than I had hoped, but that was only because life kept getting between me and this glorious piece of writing.

The best way I can describe this book is that the writing style is similar to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. It takes place in a made up South American country that has the political strife of many real South American countries. The story follows the characters of one particular city, the army and the guerilla fighters. Each chapter is a sort of vignette that focuses on the activities of one (or a few) characters interacting and slowly moves the plot forward. This allowed De Bernieres to create rich and wonderful characters.
The plot is hard to describe, the synopsis on the back of the book only covers about the first fourth of the novel. Which is the rich, shallow Dona Constanza deciding to divert the Mula River in order to fill up her swimming pool and the citizens of the city trying to stop her by sabotaging the canal in any way possible. However, by the end of the book Dona Constanza has grown so much as a character that even she realizes how ridiculous she was being at the beginning.

Since I feel like I’m failing to do this book justice, I’ll mention a few of my favorite things in hopes that they’ll illustrate the magical qualities of this book.
-General Fuerte: He is actually one of the lesser mentioned characters in the story, but he is definitely my favorite. He is one of the few uncorrupt army officers in the book and tries to make sure his branch of the army performs honorably. However, his real passion is the taxonomy of animals, and he eventually deserts in order to follow his dream of recording the different species of hummingbirds found in the jungle. He is eventually captured by the guerillas who originally want to kill him for being in the army, but realize how naïve he is and instead keep him as a prisoner for the majority of the book. He has quite a climactic get away from the guerillas, the army, and life in general at the end of the novel. But you’ll have to read it to find out what he does.

-Aurelio’s story: Aurelio is a Mountain Indian who finds his way into the tribes in the jungle. His story is perhaps the most heartbreaking. He and his wife cannot have children so they raise dogs in attempt to breed a dog that does not bark. While they were out in the jungle one day with their dogs they stumble upon a 4-year-old feral girl. They decide to adopt her and raise her as their own. I don’t want to give away the heartbreaking bit, but tragedy strikes Parlanchina (his daughter) and Aurelio swears revenge upon the army. What I love about his story is that he sets up his traps for the army in the middle of the book, but nothing happens with them until the end, when the reader and Aurelio has forgotten about his plan. And by the end he regrets his revenge because more people died needlessly after the war was over.

-The Plague of Cats: This part of the novel is never really explained, but is probably my favorite magical realism aspect of the book. There is also a plague of laughter that hits, but it’s not as enjoyable as the kitties. OH and De Bernieres definitely alludes to One Hundred Years of Solitude (and possible another magical realism book I have yet to read?) in one paragraph, “Around here no one seems to think such extraordinary events as plagues of cats and plagues of laughter have any significance. I have been told that before I came, there were on various places a plague of falling leaves, a plague of sleeplessness, one of invisible hailstones, a plague of amnesia, and another time there was a rainstorm for several years that reduced everything to rust and mold.” Which made me squee like a little fan girl for 5 minutes. Anyway back to the cats: One day the people of the city wake up and find that it has been invaded by hundreds of cats. And they have no desire to go anywhere and just like to be mischievous little things. They are also apparently are immortal, one of the characters got fed up with one while he was trying to pack, shot it, and it shrugged it off and kept batting at a drawstring. Eventually the cats begin to grow to the size of ocelots, then pumas, and by the end of the book they are the size of jaguars and they are intensely loyal to their people. They are just a good addition to the story.

So. There are my 3 favorite parts of the story (and it was hard to limit myself). I highly recommend you go out and find it and read it and love it. I will be tracking down the second and third part of the story (did I forget to mention it’s a trilogy yesssss) and all the other books by this author.

Daisy Discusses the Game of Thrones TV Series

***WARNING***
While I'm sure a lot of you have seen/read it, I'll try not to put in spoilers, but I'm not gonna lie, it could be one slips in (sneaky little things those spoilers..).

Anyway: This is one of those series of books and now a TV series as well that a LOT of people are talking about. If you've followed this blog since the beginning, you might vaguely remember that I reviewed the first book A Game of Thrones right here on The Broke and the Bookish. This book blew me away with its epic fantasy awesomeness.

I was really excited about the fact that it was going to be made into a TV series, because my boyfriend doesn't really read (though I have to give him credit, he's trying) and I want to share the things I love with him. So this was perfect.

And I have to say, though I'm often complaining about the lack of consistency between print and screenplay, this adaption is AMAZING! It is SO good! Of course, there are still some things that are different/left out, but overall, it's pretty true to the book. LOVE!

But let's talk a bit about the differences: I've recently discussed this book with Kelly (because I managed to bully her into reading it, YAY!) and we noticed that the characters in the TV series are a LOT older than they are in the books. I had to look their ages up, because it's been a year and I wasn't really sure anymore. But Jon and Robb are 16 I believe (could be 15).

These two gorgeous boys (though obviously not including the one in the middle, cause that would be kind of gross) are NOT 16 (or 15, either). They are in fact 24 and 25. Which makes me happy. Because seriously, I would feel like a creep making goo-goo eyes at Jon if he was 16. So YAY!
And in real life, the actress playing Danaerys is 23, which makes the nude scenes more acceptable.

Researching this, I read online that the creators chose for older actors because they feel that in the middle ages, which is about right for most epic fantasy, you didn't really have teenagers. At 16 you would be of age, and in the time of Henry VIII as a girl you'd get married of at about 14, so I think they're pretty much right about this. It also feels right that the characters are older, they do some incredible things, especially Danaerys at age 14, I mean, becoming queen? That's huge!

I know there's a lot of nudity in the TV series, in the books as well, so I think this is probably best reserved for a slightly more mature audience (yes, I said mature, cause age is not always related to this). And some of it made me cringe a bit, but that's just me. I didn't feel like all of it was unnecessary, though there are some scenes, if you've seen it you probably know what I mean (the two girls in the brothel), that I could have easily done without and I'm not even sure the one I mentioned was in the book to begin with.

I do want to give the producers major props for the awesomeness that is the whole setting! It's pretty much how I pictured it in my head and everything looks amazing and real! With fantasy, you can often go tacky in how you film it, but here it's done absolutely right. And the cast is so well done! I LOVE Sean Bean as Ned and I'm so sad he won't be in the next season! I actually miss Ned all around, which is why I haven't started the second book yet. Gosh, he was such an amazing character!

There were some characters I liked better in the TV series than the book, namely Tyrion. Tyrion has a pretty big fanbase based on the book, but I really started warming up to him in the series. Peter Dinklage is awesome.
And OMG, Syrio! LOVE! And Robb, he's much more likable in the TV series, though I can't quite put my finger on why that is. I even liked Cersei better, I saw the scared mother in her and also **SPOILER, light up to read**how she didn't want Ned to be executed, which made me like her better. And I'm sad to say I liked Bran less in the TV series than in the book, he seemed sort of blah to me.

But my favourite characters remain Ned and Arya. And Danaerys.

So that's me gushing/discussing this series. Have you seen it? Excited for the second season? Read the book?? Or ALL of them? I've been lucky enough to win all the copies recently, so I'm dying to dive into my pretty books.
And for those who haven't read/seen it: HIGHLY recommended!! (in case I wasn't clear before ;) )
Tell me what you think: agree/disagree? Things I haven't mentioned? Let me know!

Jana Reviews "Halo" by Alexandra Adornetto

Title and Author: Halo, by Alexandra Adornetto

Publishing Info: August 31, 2010, by Feiwel and Friends

How I Got This Book: Birthday present.

Why I read this book: The cover sucked me in, and the story sounded like something I’d enjoy.

Stars: 1

I had high hopes for this book. The cover is one of the prettiest I’ve seen in a long time (Really. Who could say no to that cover?), and the story sounded like something I’d love to read. I like stories with angels and romance. This book just didn’t do it for me, though, and parts of it really annoyed me. Here’s the summary from the back of the book.

 “Three angels – Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human – are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They must work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments.


Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong.
The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?”

I was expecting these amazingly perfect angels coming down from Heaven to save a deteriorating world. I thought it would be full of action, excitement, forbidden love, and suspense. Was it? Not really. The story didn’t even really pick up until about page 370. This is a 500-page book. Let me list off some of my main complaints that made this book so hard to finish.  I must warn you, this might be the harshest of all my reviews. I feel really bad about it… but I just can’t go without saying this!

1. The writing. Oh dear. Talk about purple prose. There was more flowery writing in this book than actual dialogue! And it did nothing for the plot. Things are described multiple ways and then compared to something else countless numbers of times: "That was the effect he had on me--an explosion of happiness in my chest, scattering like little beads and making my whole body shiver and tingle." Or… “Xavier's eyes are turquoise and almond shaped, like twin pools of clear blue ocean.” Every time Xavier’s eyes were mentioned, they were turquoise. The author could come up with nothing else to describe them. Yes, we get it. And his hair was always nutmeg. ALWAYS. Hey, did you know Xavier’s hair color is nutmeg? Oh, by the way… Xavier has nutmeg hair. And he’s hot. Really hot. If you forget, that’s ok. You’ll be told again really soon. At least 3-4 times a chapter, in fact.

Pages were devoted to descriptions of interiors, or places, or outfits, or feelings, or people that didn’t contribute to the plot at all. I'd read some long, overdone description of some nameless character, and then they are never mentioned again! So why should I care about them? I was getting so tired of it. An Amazon reviewer said it best when she mentioned that the plot takes a back seat to the overwritten details and descriptions. Did I mention Xavier’s really hot?

2. Bethany’s “brother” is Gabriel, the archangel. Her sister is a seraph.  Why are such powerful angels sent to a sleepy little town called Venus Cove, where nothing bad is happening? I would think they’d be sent to a war zone or a place with extreme poverty, but no. They get sent to a place where more volunteers are needed to serve at the local soup kitchens. There was no possible way to write in any exciting encounters against evil.

Bethany would offend all actual angels, in my opinion. She’s petty, childish, shallow, and complains about her job in Heaven. Gabriel and Ivy walk around acting very superior and stuck-up—much different than I would expect messengers from God to act. AND… these angels are so dumb! The villain of the story is painfully described to a tee and fits perfectly into the category of “evil”. Every reader in the world knew he was bad before the angels did. A 3-year-old would get it.  It wasn’t until he started doing awful things that the light bulb turned on and they were like, “Oh, I think he’s bad.” Duh! Luckily this is not what real angels are like, because we’d be in trouble if they were.

3. Don’t fall into the plot holes. In the book, angels are described as having no family and not being able to understand human emotions. So why are Gabriel and Ivy referred to as Bethany’s siblings? Gabriel says love is forbidden. He also says that angels don’t feel the way humans do. So… the fact that Bethany is so in love with Xavier makes me question the entire premise of the book.

4. The love between Xavier and Bethany is more obsessive than that of Edward and Bella. I know, right? Is that even possible? Must be because he’s so hot. I did mention that, right? Bethany is willing to turn her back on Heaven for him! That seems really unhealthy, considering it took only a week or two for this crazy, never-ending, undying love to develop. There was no build-up to the love story. They saw each other, he ran into her on purpose a few times, he tells her he likes her, and BOOM. A full-on love explosion happens, and they both go nuts. I didn’t believe it at all, and it really sounded like some little girl’s daydream. And oh my, protectiveness! Xavier actually force-fed a protein bar (airplane noises and all) to Bethany when she wasn’t hungry when he thought she should be.  He compared her to glass and would not let her carry her books. I wanted to gag.

5. Halo is a Twilight knock-off. Vampires have been changed to angels, and the girl is now the supernatural one instead of the guy. The two meet in high school, she fights her feelings for him because the two of them shouldn’t be, then the whirlwind romance happens, she tells him her dark secret after hardly knowing him at all, he is taken in to her family as a trusted ally, the angels are the hottest breed of life known to man, etc. Instead of sparkling, the angels glow. Xavier saves Bethany from a gang of guys who want sex from her. Bethany even takes the train in to the city (Port Circe) to search for prom dresses, but found nothing she liked. Can we just call it Port Angeles, call Bethany Bella, and move on?

6. It was SO preachy! A religion can be written without being preached. This book is laced with mini-sermons and lectures, and should have been marketed as a Christian romance. Readers deserve to know if they’re about to be preached to for the entire book. I have nothing against Christian fiction; I just don’t read it (not because I’m not a Christian, but because there are so many different variations of Christianity and I frequently find things that rub me the wrong way, or teachings I don’t believe in). I understand this is fiction, but I was downright offended by some of the things she said about angels, God, etc. I have a hard time with authors taking liberties with spiritual/gospel-related subject matter. Commercialized Christianity. Not digging it. I hear the Devil himself is referred to as “Big Daddy” in book 2? Oh my. Gag me with a spoon.

7.  The story moved SO slowly. While reading this, I was in the process of painting my living room. I would choose to paint over taking a break to read. Watching paint dry was more entertaining. Now THAT’S saying something.

I guess I should have expected nothing more than I got as soon as I read a quote by Beyoncé on the introductory page of the book. Yes… a lyric from the song, you guessed it! HALO (Baby I can see your halo/you know you're my saving grace.). How creative. To make matters worse, it was paired with a quote from “Romeo and Juliet.” Sorry, but Beyoncé and Shakespeare don’t go together. I’m having a hard time understanding why this book got a deal. I enjoyed the idea, but not the execution. And I feel bad for the graphic designer who had to waste their beautiful design on such a lackluster book. This is the first book in a trilogy, and I have no interest in reading the other two.

And on that note… Xavier. He’s, like, really hot.

So, have any of you read Halo? Did you like it, or did you feel the same way I did?

Ten Books Perfect For Reading Around Halloween - Top Ten Tuesday With Jamie

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme here at the Broke and the Bookish. The Top Ten Tuesday schedule and information about the meme can be found on the features tab.


I (Jamie aka The Perpetual Page-Turner) am always looking for a good creepy or scary book to read in October especially nearer to Halloween. Whether it be a scary Halloween book, something creepy or just something that feels "Fall-ish" to me. So here's my list of books that would be perfect reads for Halloween!

1. Fury by Elizabeth Miles -- Not so much SCARY but it certainly had its moments of being creepy. I think this could be a ridiculously creepy movie for sure but this book would seriously be a great Halloween read for some creepy Fury madness.

2. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin -- While this isn't a scary Halloween book, I think the WTFness and the creepy things that happen make this worthy of reading around Halloween!

3. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting -- I read this around Halloween last year and thought this was perfect creepy (but not SO creepy) read! I mean, how creepy would it be to be able to hear the echos of dead people. Imagine who might be after you after you stumble upon a murder victim's echoes!

4. The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow -- This adult fiction novel was a great mix of literary fiction, suspense, mystery and a smidge supernatural. Definitely a good book to read if you want something that's not really scary!

5. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance by Katherine Howe -- When I think of Halloween I think of witches! This book was a great historical fiction novel dealing with Salem witches and a young woman's exploration into her family's history.

6. Rebecca by Daphne du Murier -- I love love love reading any sort of Gothic novel in the Fall and at Halloween. I feel the atmosphere created...I feel like I can just FEEL everything so intensely like the coldness of the house. This book was creepy and thrilling (not like in a thriller novel) and messes with your mind. This is always a reread for me around Halloween!

7. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield -- Again, not a horror novel but this Gothic novel just is a great read for somebody who doesn't want to be scared but wants something to fit the Halloween/Fall mood!

8. Something Wicked Comes This Way by Ray Bradbury -- I love Ray Bradbury. It's been ages since I've read this but I also found his short stories very creepy!

9. The Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris -- Nothing like a good vampy book to indulge in around Halloween.

10. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman -- This is a great MG read for Halloween and you can't go wrong with Neil Gaiman in general. Am I right or am I right?



Also, am I the only one who devoured anything RL Stine or Christopher Pike as a child/teen and now feel like I want to reread them especially during Halloween? That Fear Street Saga scared the BAJEEZUS out of me.

What books do you think are perfect Halloween reads? Read any on my list? Also, TELL WHAT YOU ARE DRESSING UP AS FOR HALLOWEEEEN...if in fact you are dressing
up!

Heather reviews The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Book/Author: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #2)
Publisher/Year: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2010
Pages: 407 pages
Where I got this book: bought at Borders
Why I read this book: I read the first book and bought the second on a whim hoping it would get better
My rating: 3 stars 

Brief Summary (from Goodreads): Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

My thoughts: I must have the worst memory in the history of people under 60 who have not suffered some traumatic memory loss. I read the first book in Carrie Ryan's series, The Forest of Hands and Teeth just two years ago and I hardly remember a thing about it. The only thing I really remember is that I wasn't very crazy about the first book and most people thought it was really good. In her second novel, The Dead-Tossed Waves, the story of the undead continues as we learn that Mary has grown up and now has a teenage daughter who is the MC of this book. It's rare for me to enjoy the sequel far better than the first book but this was an example of that. Right from the beginning there is action as Gabry and her friends jump the barrier that separates their relatively safe town and the unknown area where the unconsecrated roam. Her friends are attacked and those who aren't infected end up imprisoned for crossing the barrier. So much action and conflict, I was hooked!

When Gabry meets a stranger across the barrier who looks at her as if he recognizes her, I was intrigued. It takes almost the whole book to find out the deal with that and it did a good job of keeping me engaged. I was trying to figure out what the big secret was, but I ended up being so far off with my guesses anyway. As for the characters in The Dead-Tossed Waves, I thought Gabry was much more tolerable than her mother had been. I couldn't stand Catcher from the start but was routing for her and Elias to get together.

I wasn't sure about this one after being let down by the first, but I'm glad that I read it because Ryan has redeemed herself. I will most likely read the third book because I'm interested to see how Gabry's story ends up. If you haven't read any of the series, I would honestly recommend skipping The Forest of Hands and Teeth and moving right on to The Dead-Tossed Waves. There isn't much pertinent info in the first book that sets up for the second. This could very well have been a stand alone novel, minus the cliffhanger. Speaking of the cliffhanger, eeeesh! I want to know what the heck happened to Gabry and Catcher, and if she will ever see her mother or Elias again. It's nothing groundbreaking or amazingly written, but I found it well worth the read, especially in October. The mudo (zombies) make for a creepy story!

Daisy's Review of Juliet by Anne Fortier

Title/Author: Juliet by Anne Fortier
Publisher/Date published: Harper, August 19th 2010
How I got this book: got it with a giftcard which I'd gotten for my birthday last year :) People give me books for my birthday! Yay!

Goodreads summary: "Of all the great love stories ever told, hers is perhaps the most famous. To me, she is the key to my family's fate. To you, she is Juliet.
When Julie Jacobs leaves for Italy per the instructions of her late aunt's will, she never imagines that she'll be thrust into a centuries-old feud, not to mention one of the most legendary romances of all time. However, as she uncovers the story of her ancestor, Giulietta, whose love for a man named Romeo proved ill-fated, Julie finds herself increasingly under threat, and can't help but feel that the past and present are very much connected."

Let me just start by saying how completely amazing this book was!! I so LOVED reading this book! I even wanted to slow down and just savor it instead of devouring it, but in the end the need to know what happened won out.

The writing was absolutely beautiful and I found myself getting lost in both present-day Sienna and the Sienna of the past. Seriously, old European cities are the best kind of setting for a book. Especially a city as romantic as Sienna. Or it sounded completely romantic in the book. I now feel a burning need to visit Italy (Sienna, Rome, Verona... ALL OF IT!).

I have to admit I've never read Romeo and Juliet or seen the play, but I know the gist of the story, which was enough. I had however heard rumours before that maybe Shakespeare didn't write all of his work himself and this novel presents an interesting idea: what if the tragic story was based on actual events? And what if the real Romeo and Guillietta lived in Sienna? And what if their descendants to this day aren't freed of the curse?

Gosh, it was just amazing! I loved Julie (or Guillietta), the main character, I felt I could really connect with her and to me that's SO important! I also really liked Alessandro, the mysterious guy with LOTS of secrets. So I guessed one big one pretty early on, there were still some others that I didn't expect.

I loved the romance and the whole plot with incredible twists! This book was such a treat! And it was a story within a story, don't you just love those? And I now have a new holiday destination for next year!

Seriously, if you're into historical fiction with some romance on the side, this is the perfect read for you! I'm gonna go check if Fortier has some other books coming out (this was her debut) for me to gush over :)

My rating: 5+ stars