Book Review: Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer

Review: Bloody Jack
Series: Bloody Jack – Book 1
Author: L. A. Meyer
No of Pages: 290
Release Date: 1 June 2004

ADVENTURE AND DECEPTION ON THE HIGH SEAS!

Life as a ship’s boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and daring sailor as the crew hunts murderous pirates on the high seas.

There’s just one problem: Jacky is a girl...

My Thoughts:

Bloody Jack has potential to rival Captain Jack Sparrow, she is that good.

Jacky wasn’t always called Jacky; she was once called Mary, living on the streets of London after That Dark Day when her parents and sister were claimed by the plague. The first part of our story details some of Mary’s adventures on the streets of London, begging, stealing and reading for pennies but when the boy who has been her gangs leader for four years dies she decides it’s time to move on with her life, and pursue her dream of sailing on the water. Because as Jacky says doesn’t matter if you die by hanging or die by drowning, you’re still dead, so she may as well give sailing a go.

I absolutely loved Jacky in every way, her scallywag nature, her adventurous mind and her caring heart. In many situations that most people would have stood back and saved their own necks, Jacky stepped forward and did what was right. Sure Jacky also causes quite a bit of trouble as she gets older, but all of it is good natured and well meaning.

What I loved most about Bloody Jack though – apart from Jacky of course – was the writing. It’s the sort that isn’t overly detailed but one still has the perfect picture of what is going on. The writing flows and reads fairly quickly. I also loved the style of Jacky’s language as she recounted her days in London and on the Dolphin. She literally wrote how she spoke with all of the:

“Methinks meself to bes a proper lady what gets married to some handsome man some day, or so methinks in me dreams and such, I knows I’m not a proper lady, but hopefully someone will takes me good-natured heart and all.”

One would think that may get a little annoying but it was so well done that it only added to the picture being painted. Jacky was no lady, and she never pretended to be, but she did have dreams and those dreams were quite big.

Bloody Jack was also split into five parts which I absolutely loved as well. We weren’t overloaded with plotlines, because Jacky can only do one thing at a time and have one thing on her mind at one time. Five different plotlines weren’t played out through the story but as each part came to a close so that part of the story was over and the next part began. It was marvellous to read because it let me keep track of everything that was going on and fit perfectly with the story.

Add into the masterful writing the plot and you have a perfect piece. Nothing about Jacky’s adventure was ever dull, but you still got time to breathe. Jacky got all the important information across without dumping it on us and still made room for witty remarks and engaging monologue.

I cannot fault Bloody Jack in anyway, the storyline was brilliant, the characters were flawless and Jacky is so loveable that I absolutely cannot wait to revisit her world as soon as possible.

Others in this series:
Curse of the Blue Tattoo
Under the Jolly Roger
In the Belly of the Bloodhound
Mississippi Jack
My Bonny Light Horseman
Rapture of the Deep
The Wake of the Lorei

Book Review: The Lottery by Alexandra O'Hurley

Review: The Lottery
Author: Alexandra O’Hurley
No of Pages: 177
Release Date: 21 December 2010

Living in a world where men were treated like a rare commodity, Ethan Spears did what he could in order to survive. But when the proverbial rug was pulled out from under him, desperate measures called for desperate actions. To save his sister, he entered The Lottery, offering himself to one woman for a year.

Karlyn Bowman was a rebel in her family, choosing not to climb the corporate ladder in order to pursue her love of art. Lonely, ostracized by the family who should have loved her, she pushed forward trying to become a success. When her friend gives her a lottery ticket to cheer her up, she puts it aside and forgets it. Imagine her surprise when the knock came to her door and her life—and his—were changed forever.

Be Warned: anal sex, masturbation, orgies, bondage

My Thoughts:

The Lottery was a sexy, emotional rollercoaster ride that left me in tears of joy.

Karlyn is a virgin, she is waiting for true love before she decides to have sex, but in a world where men are rare and only the richest are allowed to enjoy their presence, that dream is far from ever coming true.

Karlyn’s best friend Sam decides to buy her a birthday present in the form of a Lottery ticket. The ticket gives the holder a chance to win a young sexy man for a whole year to do with whatever she desires, the ticket holder also has to be financially stable, of which Karlyn - being a struggling artist – is not.

Lo and behold Karlyn wins the lottery, and on her doorstep she finds Ethan, a young, struggling, super sexy male prostitute.

Karlyn didn’t expect to win, and Karlyn also didn’t really want to win. When around Ethan she acts like a frightened kitten because she is painfully shy and has never even kissed a man let alone had sex with one. All Karlyn wants to do is paint and fantasise about her dream man who will sweep her off her feet and love her until the day she dies.

Ethan is a man with a chip on his shoulder, his parents are dead, his sister is dying and his grandmother has disowned him. To survive and to pay for his sisters medical bills Ethan has been a male prostitute since his early teens. After some of the traumatic mistresses he has been with he thinks that Karlyn’s shy nature must be some sort of trick to catch him off guard.

The Lottery was a sweet and very sexually charged novel, but it also had a good background story surrounding Karlyn’s painting career, Her friendship with Sam the proud and very loud lesbian and the friendship that forms between Karlyn and Ethan.

The Lottery was a lot more than what I was expecting; it is way more than a quick hot read. The intense connection between Karlyn and Ethan jumps off the page and is superbly put into words, it had my heart twisting when they fought and leaping when they made up. It even brought a tear to my eye when they parted.

The addition of her best friend Sam kept everything light and entertaining because of Sam’s loud demeanour and ability to point out the obvious.

The Lottery had a predictable storyline but O’Hurley took a basic concept and turned it into something beautiful. The writing flowed seamlessly and the characters were both strong and multi-dimensional.

The Lottery was a quick read but a very memorable one and it has left me complete, but still wanting more.

Book Review: The Taste of Apple by James Laidler

Review: The Taste of Apple
Author: James Laidler
No of Pages: 312
Release Date: 1 September 2010

UNDERNEATH THE APPLE SKIN THERE IS KNOWLEDGE AND HIDDEN DEEP WITHIN THE SEEDS OF CHANGE.

Pedro Jones is lost. Abandoned by his father and forced into commission housing with his Filipino immigrant mother, the future seems bleak.

But when Pedro meets the ‘mad’ street busker, Johnny Lazzaro, and gets involved with the East Timor freedom movement, life takes an unexpected detour through the uncharted backblocks of the human heart.

My Thoughts:

The Taste of Apple was not only better than I was expecting, it was exceptional.

Pedro is a half-caste living in Australia with his Filipino mother and Australian father. Life is as ok as it gets when your parents have a strained relationship and you’re going to a school where everyone hates you because of your intelligence and your background. But everything changes when Pedro’s father leaves one day and never comes back, leaving nothing but a note for his wife saying that it is time to move on.

Pedro and his mum move to Richmond, Victoria which isn’t the greatest of places, especially for migrants. There he meets Johnny a street busker who lives in his building. It’s Johnny that helps Pedro figure out what he wants from life and Johnny who helps him see what he has to be thankful for.


The Taste of Apple was an addictive read but also so incredibly powerful that it wasn’t a need to read just to get to the end but sheer want to continuously delve into the setting Laidler created with his prose. It wasn’t about the finish but about the journey Pedro went on to find himself, and his place in this life.

Laidler writes solely in freelance poetry, and while I would usually cringe at the thought of this, as I have in the past, he created a new appreciation in me for the style. Laidler uses his poetry for hard-hitting scenes and to create feelings I can’t imagine being created any other way. My stomach physically clenched and I actually had a head whip during some of the things Laidler showed us.

On top of Laidler's exquisite writing he also offers up a soundtrack to go with his novel. I was hesitant about this concept at first myself but once I settled into the occasional poem being read out to me with the accompaniment of music and sounds to go with it, a new level of understanding was reached a new depth to the story added and I began reading The Taste of Apple truly with Pedro in my head and the sounds of Richmond surrounding me.

The Taste of Apple was a superb read one I don’t feel I can do justice with this review. The Taste of Apple will make you smile, make you laugh and bring you close to tears with a few simple verses. I can’t fault it in any way. One would think that there would be a lack of character development and sure I don’t know what Pedro really looks like, because I never watched him in this story, but I know how he thinks, how he feels and what he wants because I was looking out through his eyes, and I think The Taste of Apple is the finest experience of looking out a characters eyes that I have ever read or will read for a long time to come.

The Taste of Apple is an experience I encourage anyone and everyone to at least try, because once you start, it will be difficult to stop.

Book Review: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Review: Last Sacrifice
Series: Vampire Academy – Book 6
Author: Richelle Mead
No of Pages: 594
Release Date: 7 December 2010

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO NOW.

Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice.

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose – for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

Join Rose, Dimitri, Adrian and Lissa in Last Sacrifice, the epic, unforgettable finale to Richelle Mead’s international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series.

My Thoughts:

The epic finale to an epic series, and my word was it epic.

At the end of Spirit Bound we found Rose locked away and getting ready to be trialled for murder. Within the first 100 pages she’s broken out and is on her way to finding Lissa’s sibling. With Dimitri at her side they meet up with Sydney and try to find a secluded place to keep Rose away from the guardians who are now after her.

Rose has matured in a way only Rose could have since the start of the series. She is still occasionally reckless, still has her heart in the right place and still hits before she asks questions. But throughout Last Sacrifice you could see how she has truly matured and realised that the world was more than just her being with Lissa. From book one she was adamant that Lissa needed her and that she had to be with her no matter what. For Rose protecting Lissa meant being right there to punch whoever tried to touch her. In Last Sacrifice though she finally realised that running back to Lissa wasn’t the best idea, finding her sibling was.

Lissa has grown the most throughout the series in my opinion. In Last Sacrifice she truly became a princess and an adult in a very harsh world. She stood up to the politicians who wanted to bring her down and proved that she had just as much right to be there as anyone else.

We still got a look into Lissa’s world though through their bond. With Rose being able to look into what was happening at court, and with her boyfriend Adrian, it added that extra dimension to the story because nothing was ever boring.

In keeping with the rest of the series Last Sacrifice was fast-paced and completely sucked you in. I had read 100 pages in the first half hour and the rest of it was literally un-put-down-able. The action was constant whether it be in Rose’s world or Lissa’s. With Rose on the run and Lissa running for the throne neither girl ever seemed to get any rest.

The sexual tension between Rose and Dimitri kept you on edge just as much as the action did, with Rose in a relationship with Adrian she was trying to pass off any feelings for Dimitri as the after affect of their romance but being on the run together wasn’t such a good idea. It was good that they had Sydney with them who as always with her loath of both Dhampirs and vampires always had a quick quip.

Last Sacrifice was the perfect ending to a perfect series. Did everything tie up beautifully? Of course not and that’s what made it the perfect end to the Vampire Academy series. The only problem with it? It didn’t feel like the end.

Also in this series:
Vampire Academy
Frostbite
Shadow Kiss
Blood Promise
Spirit Bound

Book Review: Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook

Review: Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood
Author: Eileen Cook
No of Pages: 261
Release Date: 5 January 2010

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn't dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.


My Thoughts:

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood is like Mean Girls, in book form.

Lauren Wood was Helen’s best friend, until she betrayed and humiliated her in front of the entire school forcing Helen to leave the state and start life fresh. Helen was a quiet girl when she left content with her old black and white movies and not really realising that she was being used by her best friend. But when she returns to her small home town and the high school that hated her before she left, she is a completely different person.

Now Helen is back under the name of Claire, and she’s out to destroy Lauren’s life just like hers was destroyed. She needs to steal her boyfriend, make her friends hate her, get her kicked off the cheerleading team and somehow make the whole school laugh at her.

Easy Peasy.

Helen is a funny character, albeit a little obsessed and a touch crazy, she is really likeable. She is completely focused on getting Lauren though, which makes her a bit annoying, but that is the whole point of the story.

I loved the fact that the love interest wasn’t your typical love interest for this general kind of book; he was the mysterious film-maker that no one really took notice of but everyone seemed to be talking about. Instead of the star quarter back that seemed to be the cliché interest at the start of the book.

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood was a very feel good tale, and it was written in a way that doesn’t make you hate Helen for her revenge plan but understand her and also feel a little sorry for her in the process. It teaches us that not all friends are worth it and although sometimes revenge can go too far, a bit of cheese in a vent and a couple of missing buttons off a shirt isn’t all that dangerous.

I devoured Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood and anyone who did like Mean Girls like I did, will find this book laugh out loud funny.

Book Review: Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Review: Going Too Far
Author: Jennifer Echols
No. Of Pages: 245
Release Date: 17 March 2009

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?

All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn’t make it back.

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won’t soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won’t be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge – and over....

My Thoughts:


I absolutely LOVE this book!!!

This is by far the best book I have read in a long time. It is so unbelievably powerful.

We view the story from Meg’s point of view, she’s rebellious, she hates the rules and she does everything she can to break them. I can connect to Meg on so many levels that it’s almost scary because I have been there, and in some ways probably still am. Meg has issues yes and they are very real, explain a lot and create a powerful yet vulnerable character.

John doesn’t see it that way, he sees it as kids being reckless and breaking the rules for the sake of breaking the rules, and because of their own stupidity.

And so they are thrown together for a week’s ride doing Johns grave yard shift. John orchestrates it to teach Meg a lesson because he has his own lesson to teach from pain he has felt in the past. The banter that ensues is absolutely hilarious, Meg constantly questioning and John trying to be an intimidating cop.

We start to see changes in the way Meg thinks, and I love the occasional loathing of her blue hair. What once seemed a good idea, now just seems silly.

Meg grows so much during this book that it’s inspiring. John grows as well but as we are seeing his growth through Megs POV we don’t see it as dominantly as Meg’s.

The romance that buds between our main characters is beautiful. It isn’t rushed, and there is a lot of doubt and going out on limbs. I loved how Meg was attempting to convince herself that she was developing Stockholm syndrome instead of admitting that she was starting to crush on a police officer.

I also loved the fact that to get around Meg’s fear of commitment John would plan things without telling her and let her think that it was her idea. Of course she caught on after the fact, but it was still so beautiful to watch.

There aren’t enough words I can use to explain how much I love this book, how much I can connect with it. I still get butterflies when I think about Going Too Far, hell I’ve even got butterflies right now as I’m writing this, I will probably get them again when I post it and a million times after that when I see it on various pages it ends up on.

As soon as I finished it I had the urge to read it again, I still do now and I think it’s attempting to take up permanent residence on my bedside table just tempting me to pick it up and revisit the story of Meg and Johnafter.

I love this book so much and even if the idea of teen angst doesn’t appeal to you, I still implore you to pick it up because it is a story so touching, so moving and so unbelievably powerful that even a person who doesn’t cry often was brought to tears over.