Monthly Archives: March 2013

Requiem by Lauren Oliver (Delirium Trilogy)

American Literature

Synopsis: In a world where love is cured by surgery, two former best friends find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing class war. Review: I really don’t even know what to say about Requiem. I thought Delirium was a better-than-average entry into the Hunger Games dystopian genre. And I loved Lauren Oliver’s standalone Before I Fall. But this trilogy fizzled out for me. I’m tired of love triangles, team this and team that, and free zones, and teenage girls involved in guerrilla tactics. Nothing…

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Quintessence by David Walton

American Literature

Synopsis: In an alternate version of Europe during the pre-Elizabethan years, with the Inquisition raging in Spain, an alchemist and a scientist and a headstrong girl bonded to a magical creature travel to the edge of the world to find quintessence, a substance that can unlock the powers of the universe. Review: Quintessence was great fun, a novel that felt as deeply “researched” as any historical novel, and with a fully realized magical world that kept unfolding until the very last pages. Catherine, the girl…

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Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre

American Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: Subtitled: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients. Review: In Bad Pharma, just as he did in Bad Science, Ben Goldacre proves more than capable of making science accessible to non-science minded people like me. I do some work in the health care field, on a clinical level, but my ability to interpret research for myself isn’t as developed as I’d like it to be. I felt like I learned a lot about critical analysis, and finally I understand Relative Risk and the…

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The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett (The Demon Cycle, Book 3)

American Literature

Synopsis: As Ahmann Jardir amasses an army to fight the demon war he believes is coming soon, Arlen Bales refuses to be called the Deliverer even while the people around him beg for a hero to save them from Krasia and the threat coming up from the Core. Review: The Warded Man was such a strong debut that I will continue to believe in, support, and read Peter V. Brett–despite my disappointment with this third installment in a series I’m heavily invested in. The Daylight…

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Escape Theory by Margaux Froley

American Literature

Synopsis: After the apparent suicide of a popular senior, boarding school peer counselor Devon starts wondering if there was something more going on and decides to find out the truth about the boy she loved from afar. Review: Escape Theory is smart and well-written, with varied characters and an interesting setting. Devon is haunted by an encounter she had with Hutch, the suicide whose friends and girlfriend she’s now counseling, and because that one night stands out in her mind as a defining moment, she…

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A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee

American Literature

Synopsis: When her marriage breaks apart after a spectacular midwife crisis, a mom discovers a natural talent for public relations. Review: A Thousand Pardons isn’t quite the fictional juggernaut its marketing copy made it out to be. It’s a mostly engaging character study that never quite pulled me in. It kept a certain level of distance from the reader, and that’s a technique that just doesn’t do it for me. Many thanks to Random House for the review copy.

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