The good, the bad, and the ugly: Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield

Homer's style has gone out of fashion. The good The title - who wouldn't want to read Last of the Amazons? It's about the Attic War, a lesser known Greek myth that's very similar to the Trojan War. We know that the Amazons can't win against the Athenians, but it's still...

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Review: Pompeii by Robert Harris

The punny quotes on the outside and inside covers killed me. Summary A sweltering week in late August. Where better to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples? But even as Rome's richest citizens relax in their villas around Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are ominous...

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The good, the bad, and the ugly: The Red Queen (The Obernewtyn Chronicles #7) by Isobelle Carmody

Exciting ending makes up for slow rest of novel. The good Elspeth (protagonist) isn't hung up on her missing love interest, and Gets Shit Done. The whole Habitat plot at the start was interesting, although it could (probably should) have been a separate book in its own right. More worldbuilding...

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The good, the bad, and the ugly: Bring Down the Sun by Judith Tarr

Clickbait summary: Horny priestess marries King of Macedonia, has magic. The good About a historically intriguing woman, Olympias (Alexander the Great's mother)  The setting! (Ancient Greece, 4th Century BCE) Main character has a clear goal she is determined to reach (but she reaches...

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Curses & Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Finished reading on: 16 February 2016 I'm experimenting with review styles, so let's see how this goes. Tell me what you think of this format. The good Gorgeous cover Great for young Classics nerds and fans of Spartacus (and therefore me) – Gladiators! Roman women! Pompeii! Satisfied my...

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Innocent Darkness (The Aether Chronicles #1) by Suzanne Lazear

Date finished: 10 August 2014 Steampunk and faeries - two things that interest me and the two things that made me read this book. These elements wouldn't normally go together, but in this novel they do. And they complement each other. The concept is a fantastic one, literally. ...

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Of Poseidon (The Syrena Legacy #1) by Anna Banks

  Date finished: 24 April 2014 This is one of those books that I read in 24 hours. I'm glad that it wasn't any longer than 320 pages, because I think that that would have made the book worse. The book wasn't terrible, but it wasn't brilliant either. From the blurb, I wasn't expecting...

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The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien

  Date finished: 16 April 2014 Got insomnia? Read The Lord of the Rings! Guaranteed cure! Well, actually, The Two Towers was much better than Fellowship. I liked the second book a lot more than the first. To be honest, I should rate this 3 stars and the first book 2, as that would...

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The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien

  Date finished: 2 March 2014 As a huge fan of the movies, I wanted to enjoy this more than I actually did. The movies are incredible. But the book is not. For someone who is in this fandom and enjoyed The Hobbit, it's hard for me to say this, but: Tolkien just wasn't that great an...

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