Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford: a Review

Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


The premise was delightful, the pacing, in the beginning seemed appropriate for a book about Austen, but the female characters are written like caricatures of women, at times, even the seemingly strong female characters devolve into vapid stereotypes and I don't have time for that.
Further, the metaphoric and nearly literal rape apology rampant in the book is rather stomach churning. Spoiler alert: a woman being coerced into sleeping with a man she doesn't even like is a bad plot device when the rest of the plot is trying to set up some sort of likeable rouge character. As a repeat offender, plotwise, the fact that Ford keeps trying to redeem this character, or at least write heroic scenes for him just makes me want to puke.
Further, the plot tends to focus on unnecessary details a little too long, and with arguable accuracy (see makeup tips that died in the nineties) then to completely fast forward when details would make "action" scenes a little more readable.
I also disliked the suddenness of the plot turns toward the end. They reminded me of a role playing campaign with a lazy DM.
Sorry, there were parts that were enjoyable, but the parts I didn't like or that broke my willing suspension of disbelief barrier simply outweigh the good of the book. I won't be bothering with the sequel.

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova: A Review

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book. I loved the complexity of the characters, like they could be real people with real dirt under their nails. the kinds of people who exist somewhere off the page. I think that's why it gave me nightmares.
I loved the rich wording and the way it evoked memories of late nights prowling the stacks in search of the right book for research, and the way Kostova wove cultural background into the characters without creating cliches.
This book is quite possibly my favorite vampire book, partially because of the way it veers from the typical vampire stereotypes, and partly because Kostova was writing a book about people whose lives were uprooted by the malice of a vampire, rather than a book about vampires and how awesome or evil they are, which has become far too common within the genre.
The fact that throughout the entire book, the focus seemed to be on the characters' humanity places this book at the top of the list for Vampire novels.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an entrancing and literary treatment of the genre.