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Mona Lisa Awakening, Sunny
Once readers get past the silly premise of Sunny's sizzling debut—a humanoid race called the Monère came to Earth from the moon 4,000 years ago—they'll find much to like in this intrigue-filled erotic paranormal. The "children of the moon" are ruled by "Queens," rare females whose ability to pull down the moon's rays allows them to heal rapidly and live 300 years. Gorgeous, shape-changing males protect, serve and have sex with the often ruthless Queens, who sometimes cruelly abuse them. After treating one of these males, Gryphon, at Manhattan's St. Vincent's Hospital one night, 21-year-old ER nurse Lisa discovers she's not only a part-human Monère herself but also the first "Mixed Blood" Queen, Mona Lisa. Her human blood makes her impervious to sunlight and silver—the banes of the Monère—and her latent powers pose a threat to the nastier Queens, who want to destroy her. Mona Lisa shares many traits with Laurell K. Hamilton's heroines, including having lots of hot sex for good causes, but mercifully without their kvetching and self-doubt.
Wow. The review makes this book sound good, as in good, as in "yes, I came--three times. Did you?" Recommended to me by another librarian, I thought, I'd give it a try. I was so incredibly disappointed! There's absolutely no character development--Mona Lisa "discovers" her tru identity? I'd like to know where in the story *that* happens... It's just a bunch of sex--sex for fun, sex for healing, sex until their inner lights start glowing (yes, they fuck and they glow. It's apparently beautiful.).
I was actually fine with the all the sex--I mean, we all need a break from pseudo and real literature. Sometimes, a well-written fuck scene is good, as in good, as in... well, you get the picture. But, you're not going to find that here. Instead, there're lots of pulsing manhood and thick shafts and rape scenarios (at one point, while in the Monère's hands, Mona Lisa's captors threaten to rape her since she's a half-breed. And while Mona Lisa thinks this is bad, she eventually convinces herself that being fucked by force and against her will could actually turn out to be HOTT.).
I'm not a fan of fantasy and this book definitely further soured that pot. Not recommended at all.
Sea Glass, Anita Shreve
In addition to spinning one of her most absorbing narratives, Shreve here rewards readers with the third volume in a trilogy set in the large house on the New Hampshire coast that figured in The Pilot's Wife and Fortune's Rocks. This time the inhabitants are a newly married couple, Sexton and Honora Beecher, both of humble origins, who rent the now derelict house. In a burst of overconfidence, slick typewriter salesman Sexton lies about his finances and arranges a loan to buy the property. When the 1929 stock market crash occurs soon afterward, Sexton loses his job and finds menial work in the nearby mills. There, he joins a group of desperate mill hands who have endured draconian working conditions for years, and now, facing extortionate production quotas and reduced pay, want to form a union. The lives of the Beechers become entwined with the strikers, particularly a principled 20-year-old loom fixer named McDermott and Francis, the 11-year-old fatherless boy he takes under his wing. A fifth major character is spoiled, dissolute socialite Vivian Burton, who is transformed by her friendship with Honora. As Honora becomes aware that Sexton is untrustworthy, she is drawn to McDermott, who tries to hide his love for her. The plot moves forward via kaleidoscopic vignettes from each character's point of view, building emotional tension until the violent, rather melodramatic climax when the mill owners' minions confront the strikers. Shreve is skilled at interpolating historical background, and her descriptions of the different social strata the millworkers, the lower-middle-class Sextons, the idle rich enhance a touching story about loyalty and betrayal, responsibility and dishonor. This is one of Shreve's best, likely to win her a wider audience.
After reading The Pilot's Wife, I was curious to try something else by Shreve. Sea Glass does not disappoint. Much.
I was particularly shattered by the twist at the end, though I will say that having things happen the way they did was, while sad, ultimately much better. In the beginning, the multiple stories seem to be completely unrelated--what does a deaf mill worker, a socialite, and a typewriter salesman have in common? Shreve deftly weaves the the lives of these characters into one fine fabric.
I was disappointed to end this book--it was a natural read full of ordinary people. Much of Shreve's descriptions produced vivid images and enhanced the rawness of the characters. Considering that many of the reviewers heralded Sea Glass as Shreve's best-to-date, I'm hesitant to explore more of her work. I think I'll take a break from Shreve, let the characters dissolve, and then return to her novels in August.
Once readers get past the silly premise of Sunny's sizzling debut—a humanoid race called the Monère came to Earth from the moon 4,000 years ago—they'll find much to like in this intrigue-filled erotic paranormal. The "children of the moon" are ruled by "Queens," rare females whose ability to pull down the moon's rays allows them to heal rapidly and live 300 years. Gorgeous, shape-changing males protect, serve and have sex with the often ruthless Queens, who sometimes cruelly abuse them. After treating one of these males, Gryphon, at Manhattan's St. Vincent's Hospital one night, 21-year-old ER nurse Lisa discovers she's not only a part-human Monère herself but also the first "Mixed Blood" Queen, Mona Lisa. Her human blood makes her impervious to sunlight and silver—the banes of the Monère—and her latent powers pose a threat to the nastier Queens, who want to destroy her. Mona Lisa shares many traits with Laurell K. Hamilton's heroines, including having lots of hot sex for good causes, but mercifully without their kvetching and self-doubt.
Wow. The review makes this book sound good, as in good, as in "yes, I came--three times. Did you?" Recommended to me by another librarian, I thought, I'd give it a try. I was so incredibly disappointed! There's absolutely no character development--Mona Lisa "discovers" her tru identity? I'd like to know where in the story *that* happens... It's just a bunch of sex--sex for fun, sex for healing, sex until their inner lights start glowing (yes, they fuck and they glow. It's apparently beautiful.).
I was actually fine with the all the sex--I mean, we all need a break from pseudo and real literature. Sometimes, a well-written fuck scene is good, as in good, as in... well, you get the picture. But, you're not going to find that here. Instead, there're lots of pulsing manhood and thick shafts and rape scenarios (at one point, while in the Monère's hands, Mona Lisa's captors threaten to rape her since she's a half-breed. And while Mona Lisa thinks this is bad, she eventually convinces herself that being fucked by force and against her will could actually turn out to be HOTT.).
I'm not a fan of fantasy and this book definitely further soured that pot. Not recommended at all.
Sea Glass, Anita Shreve
In addition to spinning one of her most absorbing narratives, Shreve here rewards readers with the third volume in a trilogy set in the large house on the New Hampshire coast that figured in The Pilot's Wife and Fortune's Rocks. This time the inhabitants are a newly married couple, Sexton and Honora Beecher, both of humble origins, who rent the now derelict house. In a burst of overconfidence, slick typewriter salesman Sexton lies about his finances and arranges a loan to buy the property. When the 1929 stock market crash occurs soon afterward, Sexton loses his job and finds menial work in the nearby mills. There, he joins a group of desperate mill hands who have endured draconian working conditions for years, and now, facing extortionate production quotas and reduced pay, want to form a union. The lives of the Beechers become entwined with the strikers, particularly a principled 20-year-old loom fixer named McDermott and Francis, the 11-year-old fatherless boy he takes under his wing. A fifth major character is spoiled, dissolute socialite Vivian Burton, who is transformed by her friendship with Honora. As Honora becomes aware that Sexton is untrustworthy, she is drawn to McDermott, who tries to hide his love for her. The plot moves forward via kaleidoscopic vignettes from each character's point of view, building emotional tension until the violent, rather melodramatic climax when the mill owners' minions confront the strikers. Shreve is skilled at interpolating historical background, and her descriptions of the different social strata the millworkers, the lower-middle-class Sextons, the idle rich enhance a touching story about loyalty and betrayal, responsibility and dishonor. This is one of Shreve's best, likely to win her a wider audience.
After reading The Pilot's Wife, I was curious to try something else by Shreve. Sea Glass does not disappoint. Much.
I was particularly shattered by the twist at the end, though I will say that having things happen the way they did was, while sad, ultimately much better. In the beginning, the multiple stories seem to be completely unrelated--what does a deaf mill worker, a socialite, and a typewriter salesman have in common? Shreve deftly weaves the the lives of these characters into one fine fabric.
I was disappointed to end this book--it was a natural read full of ordinary people. Much of Shreve's descriptions produced vivid images and enhanced the rawness of the characters. Considering that many of the reviewers heralded Sea Glass as Shreve's best-to-date, I'm hesitant to explore more of her work. I think I'll take a break from Shreve, let the characters dissolve, and then return to her novels in August.
