Tag Archives: murder

Bibliomantic Book Club: “Book of Blood and Shadow” by Robin Wasserman

4 May

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
Release Date: April 10, 2012
Genre: Fiction, young adult, horror, religion, suspense, and murder

Summary: Nora takes a research assignment to work on the mysterious Voynich manuscript with her best friend Chris and his roommate Max when she uncovers an ancient secret while translating the letters of Elizabeth Jane Weston. In one night, Nora catapults herself and her friends in the middle of a deadly secret, which changes their lives forever, forcing them to flee to Prague and fight the Lumen Dei, a religious organization seeking the blueprints for a machine that will allow them to talk to God. What follows is a religious mystery that has cost others their sanity, as Nora and her friends race against the clock to find the parts of the machine to prove their innocence and stop the Lumen Dei.

Part historical fiction, part fictional mystery, The Book of Blood and Shadow is rightfully called The Da Vinci Code for teens, but with better writing and less embarrassment for the literary community. We’re not Dan Brown fans here. Centered around the real life Voynich manuscript, which scholars still have yet to fully decipher, proclaimed alchemist Edward Kelly, and his step-daughter poet Elizabeth Jane Weston, this novel is full of suspense and intrigue, as we follow Nora to another world where the lines between religion and reality blur.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

Dastardly Deranged Dexter: Cassie-la Disembowels “Double Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay

17 Dec

Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Genre: Fiction, horror, serial-killer, murder, schizophrenia is way cool
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary: Dexter is not your typical blood spatter analyst. For instance, blood makes him nauseous and he murders people for fun. He has a ditzy wife, two psychopathic step-children, a murderous brother who tried to murder his adopted sister, and now: a copycat killer. Not to mention the second voice in his head dubbed the Dark Passenger, a demonic force that leads his darker dalliances.

With the “Dexter” season six finale just two days away, it seemed appropriate to review the newest and also sixth book in the series. How convenient! I couldn’t have planned it better myself, except I did.

For those of you who only watch the Showtime series, with the exception of the first book Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the storyline in the books are completely independent from those in the series. Characters who are dead on the television show are alive in the books, and a few that are alive on the show are dead in the books. Somehow, it works. Any other series and I probably would have complained by now. ::coughthewalkingdeadcough::

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , ,

Double Your Horror, Double the Dumb: Cassie-la Tortures Herself with “The Lying Game”

26 Aug

Book: The Lying Game and The Lying Game #2: Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard
TV Show: “The Lying Game“
Genre: Fiction, young adult, mystery, who is paying you to put this on television?
Rating: 1.3 out of 5 stars (tv show)

Summary: After discovering she has a long lost twin, Emma switches identities with sister Sutton, who is on a quest to find their birth parents. But what happens when Sutton doesn’t come home on time and Emma has to keep living in a mansion and being loved by people!?!

I picked up (scratch that, DOWNLOADED because I was too embarrassed to purchase in public) The Lying Game series because I thoroughly enjoyed the guilty pleasure that is Sara Shepard’s first series Pretty Little Liars. I am somehow more comfortable with admitting to reading such dreck. It’s so bad I brought out a Yiddish phrase to describe it.

At first I was excited, mostly because the premise was intriguing. A novel narrated by the ghost of a murdered girl watching life go by through the eyes of her twin sister. It sounded Lovely Bones-esque and I liked the ease with which I had read through Shepard’s previous series. NOTE: ease = it was written for teenagers who text message too much and like unicorns.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , ,

My Year in Reading: Cassie-la Blabs About EVEN MORE Upcoming Literature

19 Aug

Since I last wrote a post with a list of upcoming books that excite me, a bunch more have been announced (probably solely to mock me for jumping the gun and making an upcoming book list).

This time around, the books are even more exciting. Every single pre-order of John Green’s new book will be signed, all pre-orders of Maureen Johnson’s book purchased from Books of Wonder will come signed with hand made gifts, and even Terry Pratchett is selling signed copies of his book.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that books as a media are on an upward trajectory, despite the recent closing of Borders and the rise in eBook sales. But that might just be me making assumptions based on my own experiences rather than a trend in the world at large. We’re all egotistical like that I suppose.

Regardless, there are a shit ton (yes, that’s an actual count of measurement now) of books coming out! In September there are seven books I want to read and in October there are a whopping nine (four of which come out on October 11th), and again in December there are four. It’s madness. Pure unadulterated madness!!!

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,207 other followers